Insecurity: Senate wants mining regulated, calls for establishment of military base in Niger’s Rafi, Shiroro LGs
By Tunde Opalana
The Senate has called on the Federal Government to regulate mining activities to minimize surging banditry and insecurity in the country.
The parliament said the advent of artisan miners has aggravated insecurity because they are ready tools in the hands of foreign and local illegal miners in the country.
The Red Chamber said “the more the mining sector is not sanitized, the more insecurity will ravage the country”.
The Senate also called for the establishment of a permanent military and police command base in the adjoining Shiroro and Rafi Local Government areas of Niger State to curtail the escalating insecurity in the state.
These resolutions followed a motion by Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger), who expressed concern that the rising insecurity, if not addressed urgently, could negatively affect food sufficiency and economic diversification policy of the Federal Government.
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He lamented that the mode of operation of the criminal elements remain same of attacking, raping, abduction and collecting ransom.
Musa also expressed worried that the National Assembly has appropriated a lot of money to security agencies more than to any Ministry, Department and Agency.
The lawmakers urged the Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector General of Police to, as a matter of urgency, ensure a full military presence in Shiroro and Rafi local government areas respectively.
They also charged the military and security agencies to redesigned the modus of operandi of their operations within the affected areas so as to curtail the escalating insecurity.
Senator Sani Musa, in his motion, said, “For seven years now Niger East Senatorial District of Niger State have come under constant and sustained multiple deadly attacks by heartless, venomous and hydra headed Boko Haram terrorists who are always heavily armed with assorted sophisticated and dangerous weapons unleashing their horror on our innocent populace.
“About 42 communities across the two local government areas of Shiroro and Munya have so far fallen under the Boko Haram control with about 5,000 villagers already displaced in the last three days.
“Primary schools in Gwada, Kuta, Pandogari and Minna have hurriedly been turned to IDP camps following the sacking of nearly 5,600 villagers from their ancestral homes in Shiroro, Rafi and Munya local government areas in the last few weeks by bandits who raided the towns and villages.”
He said between March 2021 to date terrorists have launched serial attacks on communities in Munya and Shiroro local government areas, killing many innocent people, including soldiers, mobile policemen and other security personnel.
He said, “The number of persons said to have been killed by bandits in Niger East are over 475 between January 2020 to date.
“The Federal Government had made frantic efforts in curbing the menace through various operations to tackle cases of terrorism, banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping across Nigeria, but yet the expected return of peace in our land is unattainable.
“This call for a total review of the nations security architecture as proposed in the report of the senate ad-hoc committee on security.
“If this menace is not drastically addressed, the attacks will continue and the danger is that it may escalate further to other farming communities and consequently cause food shortage.”
