Herdsmen/farmer clash: Niger state needs marine police -Information Commissioner

The Niger state government has called on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to provide marine police in the riverine areas of the state.

This call is coming on the heels of the recent attack on the Etogi community in Gbara Ward of Mokwa local government area by armed herdsmen which has claimed 27 lives.

Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Tsado Vasta, in a statement said the state has rivers but no Marine Police are found in the waterways or riverine areas.

According to the statement “We are calling on the IGP; we need Marine Police to be in Mokwa, Muye, Kacha, and Agaie local government areas especially now that the Baro Port is coming up.”

Vatsa added that “the presence of Marine police will forestall such senseless act. Niger state is not a slaughter abattoir and we will not allow it to be so.

“We are aware that the Marine Police is saddled with the task of tackling security challenges, such as armed robbery, piracy, kidnapping, gun running and other related crimes in the nation’s creeks, harbours and territorial waterways; we want the Inspector General of Police to come to our aid.

“If there were Marine Police in the state, the incident at Etogi would not have happened because the herdsmen went to the community fully armed travelled in a distance of about 45 minutes using a ferry boat across the river.

“We are very sure that a better coordinated approach to securing the nation’s maritime domain especially the waterways in Niger will save the lives of our people.”