Stop denial, bandits use your training ground to hold kidnapped persons, assembly speaker tells military

The Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji has made a shocking revelation that bandits were holding 20 passengers they kidnapped on Thursday in the military training ground located in Kontagora Local Government Area and extending to Mariga in the state.

Penpushing reports that Sarkin-Daji made this known while speaking with journalists to dispel earlier denial by the military adding that the authorities probably does not have the right information, but there was need to let the world know what was going on

The Speaker added that the passengers were blocked and abducted on Thursday from five vehicles as they travelled on the Mariga-Kontagora Road between Baban-Lamba and Beri in Niger State, stating that families had taken ransom to the bandits several times in a forest that is part of the military training ground for the release of their kidnapped members.

Penpushing further reports that the speaker said the victims released after ransom payments told their families that they were kept in the forest not far from the Kontagora Army Barracks, emphasizing that the passengers kidnapped on Thursday on the Mariga-Kontagora Road were also moved to the same forest.

The number lawmaker in the Niger State House of Assembly, who was elected from Mariga State Constituency however, urged the military to get the right information and flush out the bandits from the forest.

“As members representing our people, we get feedback from our constituents of their plights. So, before we present anything on the floor of the House, we have done our investigation very well’, Sarkin-Daji added

“It is not as if we are underrating the military capacity to fight bandits and terrorists, but it is not right to just dismiss the complaints of our people. We want the federal government and concerned authorities to know their plights’.

‘The communities said the military training ground had become a safe haven for bandits who always come out of that forest to attack them, kidnap people and take them to the same forest. Even the kidnapped victims that were released after the payment of ransom said they were taken to the same bush and they could sight the Kontagora Army Barracks from where they were kept by the bandits’.

“What we expect from the military was to seek more information about what victims have told us and flush the bandits out. But you cannot just come out to refute what a member of House of Assembly had said’, he added.

“Let me tell you, as the military refuted what one of our members said Wednesday, on Thursday, October 31, bandits blocked the road between Baban-Lamba and Beri and kidnapped all passengers in five vehicles. More than 20 passengers were kidnapped and taken to the same forest. From Kontagora to Beri is a vast land belonging to Army Barracks Kontagora’.

“So, refuting the complaint of people is not right. The military should do the needful and flush out these criminals. The military is made to protect the people. So, we will continue to speak out to let the federal government and all stakeholders know the plight of our people’, he added.

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