By OGALAH IBRAHIM

Senator Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya, representing Katsina Central has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to give a marching order to the military to smoke out bandits now officially declared as terrorists from their hideouts.

Barkiya made the call on Wednesday at the senate’s plenary while adding his voice to the motion raised by Senator Bello Mandiya, representing Katsina South in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, saying there is
“urgent need for the Federal Government to take drastic actions to end, the act of banditry and kidnapping in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.”

Senator Mandiya during the plenary narrated the ordeal of the people of Ruwan Godiya Community in Faskari LGA of Katsina State to his colleagues saying, “gunmen struck and kidnapped 38 members of the community on Sunday 31 January this year".

Senator Barkiya while expressing wonder on why banditry had not been totally eliminated in the state despite the fact that the locations of the criminals were well known to government functionaries and the security agents stated that “the hideouts of the bandits terrorrising the people of Katsina State are well known to top government functionaries and security agents.”

Barkiya queried, “Enough is enough. We need to do something serious. After declaring the bandits as terrorists, we shouldn’t allow them again to continue their rubbish act.

“We have to look at it critically. Maybe we assume that the security agents are doing their best but to me, they need to do more than their best. How can the bandits just go and kidnap 38 people in a single community?

“Since we have declared these people as terrorists, what are we still waiting for? Can’t we just order the soldiers to enter the bush and just bomb all of them? We all know where they are. The president should give an order so that they would be bombed in their hideouts.”

In its resolutions on the development, the senate tasked the security agencies to comb all known hide outs of the kidnappers in order to rescue the 38 persons abducted by the gunmen in Ruwan Godiya.

The senate also called on the Federal Government to deploy sufficient military personnel and fighter jets to put an end to the terrorists menace and restore normalcy to the state and other parts of the country. (Text, excluding headline, courtesy Vanguard)

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