By Israel Bulus, Kaduna
The former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has praised the people and residents of Gobir Communities in Sokoto State, North-west Nigeria, for heeding the call for People’s Shahada Actions and moving into the Forests to confront the daredevil bandits face to face.
In a viral video seen online, thousands of residents from Gobir in Sokoto State stormed the forest in large numbers to confront bandits who have been terrorizing their community in recent years.
In his reaction to the video, the human rights activist said it’s high time the people took over the fight against banditry frontally without fear. Stressing, “No better time for People’s Shahada Actions than now.”
Shehu Sani, who has expressed anger over the killing of the Emir of Gobir and the incessant cases of kidnap by ravaging bandits in the northern regions, said failure on the side of security agencies to tackle issues of insecurity, especially banditry compelled him to make the call for People’s Shahada Actions as the potent solution to contain the excesses of bandits.
In a post via his Facebook handle today, Shehu Sani averred, “The solution to the incessant and intractable problems of the cruelty and menace of Banditry in the North West is a People’s Shahada action, which is a masses movement to fumigate and disinfect their lands, forests, and farms against banditry and bandits.
“This theory is aimed at permanently freeing the people from the criminality of kidnappings and killings so that they can take back their lives, their farms, and schools.
“Vigilante and security agencies can all collaborate and cooperate on this to achieve results, praying may Allah bring peace to our dear country.”
Senator Sani had in the past raised the alarm severally about how bandits took over the north and how they were able to establish a governance structure.
His words: “Virtually now, bandits in the North West have become a state within a state. They have been able to establish governance structure in the sense that they don’t just kidnap and extort money, it has reached a point where they even install.”
He also made frantic efforts to call on security agencies to make bold steps to solve the problems of Boko Haram and surging banditry before getting out of hand while he was in the Senate as a lawmaker.
He equally did the same when he made a video speaking on the need to rescue the late Emir of Gobir before he was brutally killed by bandits.
But this time, the former lawmaker rather enjoined all citizens and residents across the three geo-political regions of the north to move into the Forests and dislodge all bandits.
“Enough of the killings of innocent people for no just reason. I strongly believe the People’s Shahada Actions is the best option to rid our region of bandits and criminal elements ” he emphasized.
