11th June 2024

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed serious concerns about the acts of banditry and terrorism in the country.

Atiku made his concerns known in a post via his X handle on Tuesday while reacting to a report of a Sunday attack by bandits on Yargoje village in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, which claimed the lives of 20 people.

In a statement on Monday by its spokesman, ASP Abubakar Sadiq-Aliyu, the Katsina Police Command confirmed the killing of about 20 people, four police officers and two operatives of the state-owned Community Watch Corps.

The statement added the bandits ambushed the police armored personnel carrier responding to the distress call at Gidan Tofa and Dan Nakwabo villages, killing the security operatives.

Reacting, Atiku said banditry and terrorism attacks in the country have become routine, adding that the government seems helpless and nonchalant about the killings despite the enormous annual budget for defense.

He wrote: “I am saddened by reports of the attack on Yargoje village in Kankara LGA of Katsina State, which claimed scores of lives and the kidnap of vulnerable women and children.

“It is also sad that the bandits ambushed the police armored personnel carrier responding to the distress call at Gidan Tofa and Dan Nakwabo villages, killing four police officers and two members of the Katsina State Community Watch Corps.

“Most worrisome to me is that these acts of banditry and terrorism have become routine, with the government seemingly helpless and nonchalant about it despite the enormous annual budget for defence.”

The former vice president also called on the federal government to ensure the protection of citizens’ lives and property.

“While I sympathies with the families of the victims, I will once again call on the government to be alive to its responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the citizens,” he added.