•Armed Fulani herdsmen
The stakeholders in the Bunu community in Kabba Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State have lamented the activities of bandits who have abducted about 70 residents and seized control of about 21 ancestral communities.
The President of Bunu Development Association, BDA, Pastor Kolawole Johnson, made the disclosure in a press conference held today in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
Johnson called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo and the security agencies to upscale their efforts to salvage the people from the jaws of bandits who have been launching coordinated attacks on the people, reports Daily Independent.
He affirmed the effort of Kogi State Government and security agencies who have tried to uproot the activities of the marauders, but, the bandits have remained adamant in inflicting injuries, killings, maiming and kidnapping for ransom, urging the federal government to deploy it’s might to completely flux them out.
He commended Governor Ododo and the State Security Adviser Commander Jerry Omodara rtd for their relentless efforts at making Bunu land safe, however, called for more deployment of security forces to give them treatment deserved for terrorists.
He added that the press conference is aimed at drawing local and international communities to their plight, as the bandits have made unbearable for his people.
Johnson explained that as at last count , over 30 indigenes have been killed while , children, women and prominent people of the area have been kidnapped, even as over 70 persons are being held hostage across Bunu land.
According to him, the Fulani bandits have sacked them from their homes and forcibly occupy their communities, preventing them from tending to their farms.
“Imagine, the bandits are the ones farming on our lands. We can’t access our farms. They are the ones selling food items to us in our markets. If any one dare to talk, they will forcefully abduct you. They collect taxes from our people. They send messages to school principals to stop children from going to schools,” he disclosed.
He charged the people to unite, form synergy with relevant agencies to deny the bandits of their nefarious activities.
He called on non-governmental organizations, international communities, corporate bodies and spirited individuals for support to rehabilitate families affected by kidnapping activities.
In their separate speechless, the Bunu Student Association, Women Development Union, advocates establishment of community based security framework that will provide credible intelligence in order to secure high risk and hard to reach communities.
They charged the government to restore the Alape Crop Processing located in the area that was stalled by the previous administration.
