Mohammed Umaru Bago, the governor of Niger State, has stated that he will neither engage in negotiations with bandits or pay ransom for victims who have been abducted within the state.
Additionally, he urged the residents to protect themselves.
The Niger state government made the remarks while paying condolences to the residents of the local government areas of Rijau and Magama, whose communities were recently targeted by bandits in Kontagora.
He underlined that paying ransom would simply worsen the state’s insecurity and encourage further kidnappings.
According to him, “The state has reached a point where the people must stand up and defend themselves. I will not negotiate with bandits. I will not pay ransom. The moment we start paying, they will open shop on our heads and keep kidnapping people.”
He emphasised that citizens had the right to defend their property and life under the Constitution and promised to do everything in his power to uphold this obligation.
“We are surrounded by enemies, but we will not give up. The Constitution gives us the right to defend our lives and property, and we will do just that. There is no going back,” the governor maintained.
Bago went on to say that it is shameful and intolerable for villages to be overrun and its citizens to become internally displaced people.
The governor called for everyone to resist collectively and referred to the situation as a “state of war.”
Citing illegal mining as a primary cause of instability, Bago declared a complete ban on mining in Zone C of the state and announced intentions to recruit and train 10,000 people for the joint task force in order to improve security.
Additionally, he promised to help the victims of the recent attacks by providing medical care for the injured, recompense for the relatives of the dead, and support for those who lost their jobs.
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