AMID high spate of insecurity in Niger State, security agencies have arrested six persons for passing critical information to bandits.
The ICIR was told that the arrests were made in Shiroro and Munya local government areas of the state.
Sources said a medical doctor, farmers and youths were apprehended on Tuesday and they were in Police custody in Niger State. The sources added that the Police were investigating the individuals to find the extent of their involvement in the crime.
However, the Police were yet to officially confirm the issue as of the time of filing this report as the Police Public Relations Officer Wasiu Abiodun said he would inform the media should there be any new information.
Niger State is under the siege of bandits. At least 35 persons were abducted and several others injured by armed bandits at Chiri, Gini and Fuka communities in Shiroro and Munya local government areas of Niger State on Saturday.
Chairman of the Niger Concern Citizens Muhammad Awaisu Wana said in a radio programme monitored in Minna that 10 out of 15 wards in Shiroro Local Government Council were currently under the control of bandits, adding that Gwada, Kuta and Sarkin Pawa in Shiroro and Munya LGA had become headquarters for displaced persons affected by the situation.
Wana explained that eight of the wards under bandits’ control were in riverine areas, noting that there were about 80,000 IDPs in the state.
Wana urged Nigeria’s government to come to their aid to enable them return home and start preparing for this year’s farming, stressing that there could be food shortage in the state and country if the banditry continued unabated.