Zamfara: Stakeholders seek stronger border surveillance to curb banditry

Security stakeholders in Zamfara State have called for intensified surveillance of the state’s porous borders to curb the infiltration of arms and drugs fuelling banditry and kidnapping in the North-West.

They made the call on Wednesday when Governor Dauda Lawal hosted a delegation led by former Colombian National Security Adviser, Sergio Jaramillo, in Gusau.

The meeting was attended by officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Zamfara State Government, security agencies, traditional rulers, civil society organisations and members of the academia.

They urged the Zamfara Government to strengthen surveillance around porous borders to prevent the infiltration of arms and other substances used by bandits and other criminal groups.

The stakeholders also called for negotiations with bandits to be conducted only from a position of strength and urged greater involvement of traditional institutions in efforts to tackle insecurity.

They expressed the view that sustained operations against bandits and other criminal elements would help restore peace in Zamfara and the wider North-West region.

The Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Bello, said the major challenge in the fight against banditry was not intelligence gathering but operational failures.

Bello called for improved operational capabilities to strengthen efforts to restore law and order in the state and the region.

Zamfara Government had earlier called for the establishment of a victims’ support fund as part of its broader security and peacebuilding framework.

The Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Nakwada, said reconciliation efforts must be pursued within the rule of law without compromising justice, accountability or the security of communities.

He also said the proposed victims’ support fund would form part of the state’s wider peace and security architecture.