President Muhammadu Buhari has begun addressing the worsening security situation in the north-western part of the country. He has summoned top security chiefs to a closed-door meeting on Thursday, facing rising pressure to address the problem.
Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin told reporters the meeting was to address increasing cases of kidnapping, banditry and other associated issues confronting the nation.
He said a “revised strategy” was agreed after the president ordered the chiefs to “immediately and ruthlessly ensure that all those bandits are immediately dealt with.”
The country has been rocked by a series of large-scale attacks that have coincided with an ongoing insurgency by Boko Haram jihadists in the country’s northeast.
A week of sporadic clashes this month has left more than a hundred dead. There have been bandit attacks, particularly in Zamfara State — the theatre for village raids, cattle theft and kidnapping for ransom.
Kaduna and Katsina States have experience spill-over violence, communal attacks and conflict between farmers and herders.
Violence spilled into neighbouring Kaduna State, compounding a security crisis following spates of communal attacks and a conflict between farmers and herders, predominantly over land.
