Leaders and officials convene to address the urgent security crisis in Niger North, issuing a two-week ultimatum for action.
The Coalition of Niger North Youth Forum (CNNYF), in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Niger State Branch, has called on both the Federal and Niger State Governments to urgently address the persistent security challenges bedeviling the Niger North Senatorial District.
At an emergency meeting convened to deliberate on the worsening security situation across the zone, the forum expressed deep concern over the increasing frequency of attacks on communities across the eight local government areas by bandits, Lakurawa and other criminal elements.
In a statement issued by the National Director of Contacts and Mobilization of the Forum, Bello Junaidu Ahmed, CNNYF lamented that for several years, residents of Niger North have suffered unrelenting attacks by armed bandits, leading to the burning of homes, theft of thousands of cattle, rape of women, abduction of school children, kidnapping of innocent citizens, and even the targeting of public officials and community leaders.
The statement noted that despite the alarming scale of these atrocities and repeated appeals to the authorities, little or no meaningful action has been taken to bring lasting relief to the affected communities.
According to the Coalition, in partnership with the NBA Niger State Branch, several efforts including the dispatch of official letters, press briefings, participation in security summits, and media engagements have been made to draw the attention of the government to the plight of the people. Unfortunately, these efforts have yielded no tangible results.
The Forum further decried the devastating consequences of the prolonged insecurity, stressing that thousands of school children have been forced out of classrooms, illiteracy rates among youths have risen sharply, farmlands have been abandoned, businesses have collapsed, and families have been displaced in large numbers.
As part of its resolution, CNNYF issued a two-week ultimatum to both the Federal and Niger State Governments to urgently deploy decisive and strategic measures to restore peace and security in Niger North.
The Coalition warned that failure to take action within the stipulated period would compel the two bodies to institute legal proceedings against the governments for failing to uphold their constitutional duty of protecting the lives and property of citizens.
