President Bola Tinubu has issued a directive to Nigeria’s top security brass to immediately track down and apprehend the perpetrators of the Niger market attack, following a weekend of bloodshed in the state.
The President’s order comes after a raid on the Kasuwan Daji market in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, which left at least 30 people dead and dozens more abducted.
In a statement released Sunday evening through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President condemned the “heinous and barbaric” assault.
Preliminary reports indicate that the gunmen, suspected to be bandits fleeing military pressure in neighboring Sokoto and Zamfara states, stormed the village on Saturday evening.
They opened fire on traders and shoppers before setting the local market ablaze and retreating into the expansive Kainji Lake National Park forest.
However, Tinubu directed the Minister of Defence, the Service Chiefs, and the Inspector-General of Police to deploy all necessary resources to ensure the perpetrators of the Niger market attack face the full weight of the law.
“These terrorists have tested the resolve of our country and its people. They must, therefore, face the full consequences of their criminal actions.
“No matter who they are or what their intent is, they must be hunted down. They, and all those who aid, abet, or enable them in any form, will be caught and brought to justice,” the President declared in a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, on Sunday.
Tinubu directed security agencies to rescue all the abducted victims urgently.
He also sent his condolences to the families of the victims of the Niger market attack, as well as to the government and people of Niger State.
Tinubu assured the people of Niger State that security agencies had been mandated to intensify operations around vulnerable communities, particularly those near the forests that have served as hideouts for criminal elements.
“These times demand our humanity. We must stand together as one people and confront these monsters in unison.
“United, we can and must defeat them, deny them any sanctuary. We must reclaim the peace and security of these attacked communities,” he added.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the Niger market attack comes after bandits abducted over 300 pupils and students from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of the state.
Arriving around 2:00 a.m. on motorbikes, the gunmen stormed the school dormitories.
Security forces and community hunters were deployed to comb nearby forests for the abductees.
In the immediate aftermath, 50 pupils escaped within the first day and were reunited with their families.
Subsequently, the Federal Government secured the release of 100 schoolchildren.
Later on December 21, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said that all the abducted pupils of the St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, Niger State, “numbering 230, have been freed”.
