The Emir of Birnin-Gwari, Alh. Zubairu Jibril-Maigwari has said that bandits in the area are hungry and lack logistics to carry out serious operations.
Jibril-Maigwari said this on Friday when the Commissioner of Police (CP) in Kaduna State, Ali Janga paid him a visit.
Janga was at the emir’s palace to discuss the security challenges in his domain.
The emir noted that the bandits terrorising Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area (LGA) were currently only able to carry out their operations in specific areas such as small markets stalls.
According to him, the bandits now only steal food for survival and do not have the strength or time to go on a killing spree.
“We now have three extra police divisions in the local government area, though earlier we had four. The police personnel are not many, but they are trying their best to curtail any kind of criminal activity in the area.
“We are aware of the challenges being faced by the police, we know you cannot instantly deploy police officers to us; but the few we have are putting in their best in the fight against criminals in the area.
“We have had a lot of police commissioners in the state; I met about 20 while on the throne.
“We gave them all the support they needed to combat crime in our communities, we also pledge to give you our maximum support,” the Emir said.
He said just a little effort and change of strategy were required by the police to completely wipe out the bandits because they lacked adequate weapons and were taking cover in hideouts.
“The vigilante groups are also very helpful and they are playing very vital roles in the fight against crime in the local government, but the police should look beyond volunteers and find a way to train and integrate them for effective operations.
“They over react to situations and cause more damage; so the police should sit with them, get the good ones and recruit them,’’ the emir advised.
Earlier, Janga commended the Emir for co-operating with the police towards ensuring successful operations targeted at curbing banditry and other crimes in the local government area.
“The reports we are having from Birnin Gwari LGA Divisional Police Officer is quite motivating. He said the locals are co-operating with the police towards ensuring a crime-free area.
“We assure the people of Birnin-Gwari that the issue of banditry in the local government will soon become an issue of the past,” the CP promised.
