Banditry: Protect, Or Let Us Protect Ourselves, Sokoto Communities Declare

*Say 30 villages deserted

By; SULEIMAN ADAMU, Sokoto

Sometimes, being in a quiet or loud silence suggests something may have gone wrong , a situation exhuming a mixture of anger and sorrow among and across residents of communities in Kebbe local government area of Sokoto state following the frequent attacks by bandits.

It is no longer at ease for the communities consistently living under siege with the emerging outcry revealed by a group under the auspices of Concerned Citizens of Kebbe to express the situation faced by families living in bondage and at the mercy of their killers.

Many families have been caged, silenced and living in confusion under palpable tension and fears crying for help.

Narrating their ordeals, the group led by two community leaders, Adamu Haruna Kebbe and Tukur Mohammed Fakku said at a press conference at the weekend that, ” it is a situation that describes a people not celebrating resistance but mourning the conditions that made it necessary. ”

Their message was likened to a plea and a warning: ” Kebbe wants peace, but it will not be allowed to die quietly.”

The two community leaders were braced by other community members who’s homes , lives and property were affected, saying, “We fought to survive,” in grief.

“More than 30 of our villages are deserted. We are burying people while the promises we were given gather dust”, one of them busted out stressing that silence was the price they paid for being abandoned.

Besides, the group in remorseful mode, dispassionately vowed with concerns saying that if nothing was done, would opt for arms carrying not as a thirst for violence but as the last resort as means of protection with condition if government never came.

According to them “This is not rebellion,” a leader insisted. “This is a grieving community saying: if you will not defend us, allow us to defend our children, with training, licensing and oversight.”

They confirmed that families across affected communities were determined to sell their farms and properties which sustained them for decades to acquire weapons for self defence if nothing changed.

” This is between our their lives , future and the terror unleashed on us by bandits on consistent basis”, they stated

However, they also dwelled on the situation to accuse of alleged withholding the local government monthly federal allocations meant for it and subsequently, starving displaced families of relief items.

“Every day our children go hungry. Every day we bury our people. Funds meant to help us are stuck in bureaucracy,” one mother said, tears breaking through her composure.

In the same vein, they advanced blunt demands requesting urgent deployment of security operatives, sustained patrols and intelligence operations, release funds and relief materials.

Other issues include demand for formal empowerment of their communities to organise self defence under clear legal and supervised arrangements.

Hitherto, the Concerned Citizens asked for dignity for the state and federal governments to act in a way that restores safety and hope while appealing beyond Nigeria’s borders and urging journalists and human rights organisations to professionally promote thier plights.

“Let the world hear us,” they urged. “We are ordinary people pushed into extraordinary choices. We did not choose to take up arms because we like violence we chose it because we feared death and the disappearance of our communities.”

In the same vein and while waiting thus :” now, Kebbe waits:

This, the group noted, reflects a simple and stinging laid by the communities before the Sokoto State and Federal Governments.

” Act decisively to protect us, release the funds and relief we need, or formally enable us to defend our families under the law. Until then, the fields will grow quiet and the people will hold fast to a painful choice between starving in peace or fighting to live”, it stated with concerns.