By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Community leaders in Borgu and Agwara Local Government Areas of Niger State have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rescue over 50 people still in captivity five weeks after their abduction by terrorists in Papiri and Kasuwan Daji communities of Niger State.
The leaders made the appeal in a joint press briefing in Suleja on Sunday addressed by the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Rev. Dr. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese.
Flanked by Dr. Murtala Haliru Dantoro, a Prince of Borgu kingdom and Mohammed Sani Ibrahim, leader of Muslim Community of the Emirate, Revd Yohanna described the security situation as dire with repeated attacks on residents, schools, and police facilities, explaining that many children cannot attend school while farmers have abandoned their farmlands. .
“So far over 50 persons abducted by terrorists in Agwara and Kansuwa Da ji attacks comprising mostly of children are still in captivity”
” For over five weeks these victims are still not yet rescued and the attacks affected both Christians and Muslims who are mostly children, we want government to help us rescue them, ” he stated.
According to the cleric, the people are helpless and crying for help, adding that, “we want President Tinubu and the NSA to beef up security in Agwara, especially in Papiri town, where St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools are located”.
The leaders also appealed for a military base that will ensure security presence at all times in the area, insisting that, “the time to act is now, before we lose more lives and before our communities lose faith entirely in the government’s capacity to protect them”.
“Borgu Kingdom is bleeding.
Families are being torn apart, livelihoods destroyed. We are calling on the President, the Jagaban Borgu to approve emergency funding to enable security operatives tackle the security challenges of Borgu kingdom”, they said.
They assured that local communities including vigilante groups and traditional institutions, are ready to cooperate with security agencies while calling for the declaration of Borgu and Agwara LGAs as security priority zones with immediate deployment of military units, reconstruction of Agwara Police Station, and enhanced surveillance of nearby forest reserves and highways.
