Senate, on Wednesday, sounded a fresh alarm over the deteriorating security situation in Katsina State following coordinated bandit attacks that claimed at least 35 lives within 24 hours.
It demanded urgent military action, improved policing capacity, and immediate humanitarian support for affected communities.
The upper chamber’s resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance arising from the recent ambush of operatives of the Nigeria Police Mobile Force in Bakori Local Government Area, where three policemen were killed, with two others critically injured, in broad daylight.
Leading the debate, the sponsor of the motion, Senator Mohammed Dandutse, described the attacks as brazen and alarming, stating that the frequency and scale of violence have reached an intolerable level.
Dandutse disclosed that as of February 3, about 35 people had been killed in coordinated assaults across several local government areas of the state.
According to him, 24 persons were murdered in Faskari Local Government Area, eight in Dandume, two in Funtua, and one in Kankara, all within a single day, underscoring what he described as a dangerous escalation in bandit activities.
Dandutse warned that the persistent attacks on rural communities were crippling agricultural activities in Katsina, with over 50,000 farmlands, reportedly, abandoned due to fear and insecurity.
He said the development posed a serious threat to food security, livelihoods, and the local economy, given the state’s strategic role in national agricultural production.
He recalled that Governor Dikko Radda had earlier led a delegation of elders from the Funtua Zone to President Bola Tinubu to brief him on the worsening security situation.
During the visit, the president, reportedly, pledged to establish a military barracks in the zone, particularly around Malumfashi, as a decisive step to curb banditry.
The senator expressed concern that criminal gangs had continued to exploit porous corridors linking Katsina with parts of Kaduna and Zamfara states, including forest routes around Machika and Kankara.
Dandutse stressed the urgent need for stronger interstate security coordination and sustained military presence.
He cautioned that failure to act decisively could result in mass displacement of rural populations, the collapse of farming communities, and long-term psychological trauma for women, children, and other vulnerable groups.
Contributing to the debate, Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, alongside several other lawmakers, commended the military and security agencies for their ongoing efforts.
They insisted that the situation demanded greater force, enhanced surveillance technology, and intelligence-driven operations to dismantle bandit networks.
Many senators described the affected areas as part of Nigeria’s agricultural heartland, rich in food crops and industrial raw materials, such as cotton. They warned that prolonged insecurity there constituted a national economic risk.
Senator Aliyu Wadada cautioned against negotiating with bandits, stating that such engagements often embolden criminal elements rather than delivering lasting peace.
In the end, the senate unanimously resolved to urge Tinubu to immediately implement his pledge to establish a military barracks in the affected Katsina zone.
It also directed the Inspector-General of Police to equip the newly established police squadron in the area with at least three Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to strengthen intelligence-led operations, forest combing, cross-border collaboration, and community-based intelligence gathering.
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