Niger State government has called on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to urgency deploy Marine Police to protect river line communities which have become targets of Fulani herdsmen.
This is coming on the heels of the recent herdsmen’s attack which claimed 27 lives in a Mosque at Etogi village in Mokwa Local Government Area of the state.
State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Tsado Vasta, stated that Niger State was surrounded by rivers but no Marine Police along the waterways to protect the lives and properties of citizenry.
“We are calling on the Inspector General of Police to as a matter of urgency deploy Marine Police to the following communities; Mokwa, Muye, Katcha, and Agaie local government areas especially now that the Baro Port is coming up.
“We have heard experiences from other parts of the country who are suffering from Fulani herdsmen attacks and we will not wait to see Niger state torn apart or allow any person or groups undermine the peaceful co-existence enjoyed by all, as a government we will not allow that”.
Vatsa regretted that “Niger has lost so far 27 lives in Epogi, some others injured by the Fulani attackers, the presence of Marine Police will forestall such senseless killings. We don’t want to take chances and will not allow some elements to turn Niger state into slaughter abattoir.
“Marine police among others are saddled with the task of checkmating criminals such as armed robbers, pirates, kidnappers, gun runners and related criminals along Nigeria’s creeks, harbours and territorial waterways. We want the Inspector General of Police to come to our aid”, he said.
The commissioner said, “If there were Marine police at strategic locations, the killing of 27 in a mosque at Etogi wouldn’t have happened because the herdsmen we were informed went to the area fully armed and travelled a distance of about 45 minutes on a ferry boat along the river.
“As a government, we will not watch and see law abiding and defenceless citizens killed gain before we act, hence the call on the police to do something and we are very sure that a better coordinated approach to securing the nation’s maritime domain especially the waterways in Niger will guarantee safety of lives and properties of our people”.