Birnin Gwari Emirate sends SOS in congratulatory message to Tinubu

From :Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

As they felicitated with him on his inauguration as the 16th Nigerian President, people of Birnin Gwari Emirate of Kaduna State, have cried to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to come to their rescue, saying that, bandits were ruling their domains, as they have already imposed levies on farming communities.

People of the area under the auspices of Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU), said a situation where bandits impose levies on communities with threat of attack has become the order of the day in their area.

The congratulatory letter to President Tinubu signed by BEPU Chairman, Ishaq Usman Kasai said, “Just this week, the bandits imposed N10 million levies on three farming communities, namely; Sabon-

Layi, Tashar Keji and Ruwan Rana where they give these Communities grace of three days, which expires Tuesday 30/5/2023, to meet up with this demand or be attacked. These have become the orders of the day. In fact, just three days ago, Birnin-Gwari capital was stormed by the bandits who abducted people including teenage girls.

“Some school children in the Eastern part of Birnin-Gwari who were abducted on their way to schools are still in captivity for over a hundred days now. However, we hope this administration can take decisive action to address this problem.

“The insecurity situation in our area is a serious cause for concern, where Birnin-Gwari people are being kidnapped and killed by bandits daily. The economy of Birnin-Gwari which relies majorly on farming has been seriously crippled. Today, people could no longer access their farmlands due to insecurity. Most basic schools were closed and transportation halted, affecting trading.

“Farming Communities are being sacked by bandits almost everyday and people majorly women and children are becoming internally displaced on a daily basis. Even today as I am writing this congratulatory message, the Community is on the other hand at grief because even on last Sunday night, Dadin Kowa village has been attacked and sacked by bandits on motorcycles wielding different kinds of riffles.

“In another sad development, on (Sunday) 28/5/2023, being a day to your inauguration, large number of people including women and children were kidnapped on the road along Dogon Hawa, just about two kilometers away from the

Birnin-Gwari main town.

“As the President of Nigeria, His Excellency has the power to ensure that the people of Birnin-Gwari live their lives in peace and security where they can freely continue to exploit economic and educational potentials without fear of attacks by these terrorists.

“We hereby urge Mr. President to prioritise security of the people and take immediate steps to address the situation. This may involve deploying additional security personnel to the area and implementing a functional community policing strategy among others.

“It is our hope that, under His Excellency’s leadership, the situation in Birnin-Gwari will be resolved and the people of the community can live their lives without fear of violence,” BEPU said.