Zamfara Elders say bandits arrested by the military and vigilantes were being released back into the society.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The reason banditry refuses to end may be because those arrested still find their way out of detention to continue with the criminal trade. This much has been said by Zamfara Elders and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase.
The Zamfars Elders said bandits arrested by the military and vigilante groups and handed over to the police were being released back into the society.
Bandits have become very audacious in their attacks. They sometimes burn their victim alive.
At least 23 travelers heading to Lagos from Sokoto were set ablaze two weeks ago, by bandits who stood guard until their victims were burnt to death.
The bandits have been holding hundreds of Nigerians hostage, including children, in exchange for millions of naira for their release.
But Zamfar Elders, in a statement, said bandits in Zamfara State get away with their crimes because Nigeria’s security operatives set them free whenever the criminals are apprehended by the military or local vigilante.
The bandits detest local vigilantes, and have always demanded for the scrapping of the group in exchange for their laying down of arms.
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Speaking for the Zamfara Elders, a former member of the National Assembly, Saidu Dansadau, who represented Zamfara Central constituency, disclosed this while briefing journalists after a meeting in Gusau on Sunday.
“The committee expresses its dismay and disappointment for indiscriminate release of criminals by the authorities who either arrest them or to whom the criminals are handed over when they are arrested by the military, vigilante group, or any other security organization,” Dansadau said on behalf of the Zamfara Elders.
Dansadau added that the indiscriminate release of criminals was the cause for the escalation of incidents of banditry, kidnappings and terrorism in the state.
“We appeal to the law enforcement agencies in the state to, for the sake of God, have a paradigm shift from this indiscriminate release of criminals and resort to arraigning the criminals in the court of law because the meeting identified this indiscriminate and incessant release of criminals as one of the immediate causes of the escalation of criminality in the state,” he said.
A few days ago, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, accused officers of the Nigerian police of working together with bandits to kidnap citizens.
Wase corroborated the claim of the Zamfara Elders when he said said security operatives were in the habit of facilitating the release of bandits in their custody.