Insecurity: Politicians panic, move families out of northeast, northwest

The insecurity crisis in the north has deepened palpable fear of uncertainty in the northeast and northwest among majority politicians. The politicians have, accordingly, begun moving their families out of northeast and northwest to the south for safety.

Many of the relations of the politicians from the northeast and northwest are being relocated to Lagos, Lagos State; Ibadan, Oyo State; Benin City, Edo State; among others.

The perpetrators of violence have recently shifted attacks, killings, and kidnappings, from unarmed citizens to people in authority, including public institutions. In certain circumstances, where they cannot get at a particular political actor, they go for their relatives.

Bandits in the early hours of Sunday, kidnapped the younger sister of the Deputy Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Shehu Dalhatu Tafoki.

The politicians are facing the consequences of ignoring earlier warnings from some senators and other statesmen that the bandits and Nigerians would soon begin to come for state actors.

Senator Dino Melaye, Senator Ali Ndume, Senator Shehu Sani, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, among others, had at different times warned that if the government fails to bring the socio-economic crises in the  country under control, very soon, government officials would no longer be safe.

The kidnapped victim, identified as Asma’u Dalhatu, was said to be whisked away after the bandits invaded Tafoki village in Faskari Local Government Council, Katsina State.

The Deputy Speaker was gathered to have narrated that the bandits invaded the village at about 1.00am on Sunday, proceeded to the village head’s residence, his family house, and kidnapped two of his sisters.

The deputy speaker noted that as the bandits were trying to escape into the forest, some members of the vigilante group engaged them in gunfire. This, he said, made one of the kidnapped sisters escape and returned home safely.

Earlier, bandits had invaded Kurami Village, Bakori Local Government Area of the State, where they kidnapped the wife and two children of a lawmaker representing Bakori constituency in the Katsina State House of Assembly, Dr. Ibrahim Kurami.

Bandits in Katsina State have shifted emphasis to kidnapping relatives of political actors in the state.

Gunmen also killed the son of Senator Bala Na’allah, representing Kebbi South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Abdulkarim Bala Na’allah.

Abdulkarim Bala Na’allah a pilot, the eldest child of the senator, was said to be killed at his Malali residence in Kaduna.

The 36-year-old Abdulkarim was said to be alone in his residence on Saturday night when he was attacked and killed. The wife was said to have travelled, but the remains of the deceased was said to be found by neighbours on Sunday.

More so, two persons were earlier killed on Saturday by bandits in Makoro Iri village, Kajuru Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, had in a statement on Saturday, disclosed that the bandits invaded the remote village and shot dead the duo identified as Gideon Mumini and Barnabas Ezra.

In another incident, troops of Operation Safe Haven had rescued three travelers from bandits along the Gidan Waya-Godogodo road in Jema’a Local Government Area.

The bandits kidnapped the travelers at a point they barricaded the road.

Bandits had also invaded the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, killing one army major, injuring two persons, and kidnapping a few others.

The banditti’s operations in the north have defied security interventions and efforts to protect the lives and property of citizens in that part of the country.

Boko Haram terrorists have long made northeast Nigeria ungovernable, making life unbearable for residents of Borno State, beside Adamawa and Yobe states.