Governor decries banditry affecting food production in North-Central

*My main concern about insecurity issue is about food security; when bandits kidnap for ransom, yes you will say they do that for money ─Governor Abubakar Bello Niger State

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In view of the reported peculiar and deteriorating security situation in the country recently, the Federal Government has been called upon to adequately tackle the national security challenges.

Governor Abubakar Sani Bello Niger State also says he is worried that the activities of bandits, particularly in the North-Central region of Nigeria will affect food production.

The governor who also chairs the North-Central Governors’ Forum, restated this Tuesday during an interview on a Channels Television programme, in Abuja, FCT.

Bello urged the Federal Government to effectively tackle the degenerating security challenges in the country.

He said: “My main concern about this issue is about food security. When they kidnap for ransom, yes you will say they do that for money,” he said.

“But why burn farms? Why kill animals? I really want the Federal Government to really look at it from the several factors that contribute to this.”

The Niger State Governor disclosed plans by his administration to track bandits who attack communities, kill people, and destroy farmlands and animals.

It is easier tracking the miscreants who appear in large numbers using the Intelligence, surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), noted Bello.

He further stated: “To get the right intelligence from the various communities that are far away from the cities, you must have some form of technology.

“In the meantime is that we try to track the movements of these bandits. For those ones that move on 20, 30, 40, 50 motorcycles, it is easy to pick using an ISR.

“For those ones that move in smaller units, I have to deploy, for example, things like drones and all that. We have to have intelligence.”

The governor as well entreated his colleagues in the North-Central region to work to increase the Internally Generated Revenues in their respective states.