Zamfara killings: Use air surveillance to identify location of bandits, Senate tells FG

The Senate, yesterday, asked the Federal Government to direct the Nigerian Air Force to use air surveillance to identify the location of armed bandits in Zamfara, with a view to flushing them out.


It also urged the Federal Government to mount diplomatic pressure on Niger Republic and Chad to stop criminals from using their territories to launch attacks on Nigeria.

The upper chamber equally asked the Zamfara State government to upgrade, recruit and generously fund state and local vigilance teams to improve security in the affected areas.

Resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion by Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura (APC, Zamfara North), entitled, “Urgent need to look into the killings that took place in Zurmi L.G.A of Zamfara State.”

Presenting the motion, Senator Kaura noted that cross-border banditry had brought Nigeria’s frail security system to the fore,  having triggered an orgy of violence in Zamfara State, which left 39 people dead in Zurmi LGA on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

He said:  “These security breaches are on the increase, in spite of the huge resources being expended by the federal and Zamfara State governments.”

In his contribution, Senate Leader,  Ahmed Lawan, who noted that there must be executive-legislative collaboration to ensure that the outcome of the recently held national security summit was realised, said “we need to be optimistic that this time around, the implementation will be better.”

In his remarks, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ekweremadu, noted that any government that abandoned its responsibility of protecting lives of its citizens had failed.