Article author:
Reuters
MAIDUGURI — Nigeria's Zamfara state begins issuing licenses to individuals carrying guns to protect themselves from armed groups of kidnappers causing havoc in the northwestern part of the country. Said on Sunday.
Armed gangsters are rampant in northwestern Nigeria, robbing and kidnapping ransom. Violence is on the rise, and thinly stretched security forces often cannot stop the attack.
Armed groups, locally known as bandits, are active in remote forests in the northwest, with more deadly attacks and kidnappings targeting villagers, farmers and travelers since the beginning of the year. doing. According to authorities, Kaduna, which is adjacent to Zamfara, is the most affected.
Zamfala Commissioner Ibrahim Magazid Sala asks the Governor to issue a state police commissioner a license for 500 guns in each of the 19 emirates in the state. He said he had instructed. ..
"Government is ready to make it easier for people, especially farmers, to secure the basic weapons to protect themselves," Dosara said in a statement.
Owning a gun in Zamfara requires the permission of the Governor and the State Police Commissioner.
Nigerian security forces are growing in the northeastern part of the country in the fight against Islamic rebellions, with individual states relying on vigilants to combat mass-moving bandits on motorcycles. It has become.
Last week, in an attack on two churches in Kaduna, shooters killed eight and kidnapped 38, the Christian group said in a number of other deadly attacks in the southwest. Said a week later.
Dosara recruits additional community protection guards throughout the state to help Zamfara fight bandits, and the state is also commanded by a retired police secretary. He said he would establish a paramilitary organization. The state
also banned the use of motorcycles and the sale of gasoline in three districts and one emirate in the areas most affected by bandits, Dosara said. States are divided into emirates, and emirates are divided into districts.
"Anyone who finds a motorcycle in the area is considered a bandit, which directs security agencies to shoot such a person at a glance," Dosara said. Told. (Report by Maiduguri Newsroom, written by MacDonald Dzirutwe, edited by Jane Merriman)
