President Muhammadu Buhari has dispatched a high-level security delegation to Sokoto and Katsina States in response to the recent spike in activities of bandits.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this development in a statement in Abuja, saying the delegation is made up of the heads of the nation’s intelligence and security services.
According to the presidential aide, the president is expecting an immediate situation report and recommendations on actions to follow to effectively deal with the worrying situation.
He said the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, the Director-General of the DSS, Yusuf Bichi, the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Amb. Ahmed Rufa’i, and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Samuel Adebay, are also on the delegation, led by the National Security Adviser, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno.
The two states have witnessed fresh attacks in the last two days where innocent citizens were killed in cold blood by the terrorists.
In one of these attacks in Sokoto state about 40 were said to have been burnt to ashes in a bus in Isa local government area.
State government however confirmed 23 deaths.
The confirmation was contained in a statement signed by Gov. Aminu Tambuwal’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Malam Muhammad Bello, issued to newsmen in Sokoto on Wednesday.
The statement said, ”Contrary to speculations that over 40 people lost their lives in a bandits attack on a 42-seater bus traveling to Kaduna on Monday, facts emerged that 23 people lost their lives during an attack at Gidan Bawa village in Isa local government area of Sokoto state.”
In similar cold-blooded attack, the Katsina Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Rabe Nasir was assassinated.
He was reportedly gunned down at his residence in Fatima Shema Estate in Katsina metropolis.
A friend of the deceased said, “Late Nasir was shot after Asr prayer in his residence here in Fatima Shema Estate.”
