By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Borgu emirate in Niger state required the sustained presence of security agencies to prevent the incessant attacks not the deployment of soldiers and rescue teams after people have been killed and taken away by terrorists.
A Prince of the Borgu kingdom from the Dantoro ruling lineage, Prince Murtala Haliru Dantoro stated this in a press briefing in Minna on Monday.
He said, “I want to be very clear about what we are asking for, because there is a difference between the two. We are not asking to be rescued after the attack. We are asking for security before the attacks. We do not want soldiers and rescue teams arriving after our people have already been killed or taken. We want a permanent, deliberate, and sustained security presence that prevents these attacks from happening in the first place”.
He explained that it has become more expedient for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve permanent presence of security in the Borgu emirate due to frequent attacks and killings which has almost become daily routine.
“We are under siege.Our farmers cannot go to their farms in peace. Our women and children are not safe on the roads they have travelled for generations. Kidnapping has become common in places where it was once unheard of while killings that should shock a nation have painfully become a routine. Borgu Emirate is not asking for charity. We are asking for what is owed to every Nigerian community – the safety of our land and our lives”, he said.
Dantoro said that the alarming rate of insecurity in the kingdom has triggered mass migration of rural communities to Benin Republic as families relocate to areas they deemed save
He said , “I want the Federal Government and the Niger State Government to please pay attention to this; we are losing our citizens. Every family that crosses into Benin Republic because they no longer feel safe at home, is a citizen we are losing quietly, one household at a time. This is a humanitarian emergency and a national security concern, and it deserves urgent attention”.
He appealed to humanitarian agencies, both local and international to give displaced persons, the women and children of Babanna and other affected communities, needed support, adding that, “they need shelter and care urgently. I call on you to extend a hand to our people in this moment of need”.
According to him, “I therefore use this platform to formally and respectfully call on Mr. President and the security architecture of this nation to give Borgu Emirate the security it deserves. Our land must be safe. Our people must be able to sleep, farm, trade, and travel without fear”.
