Niger Assembly Speaker says bandits holding 20 kidnapped persons in military training ground

The Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly has doubled down on a claim made on the floor of the Assembly that bandits had taken over a training ground of the military in the state.

Reacting to a statement by the military denying the claim, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji said the bandits were holding 20 passengers they kidnapped on Thursday in the facility.

The Speaker, who was elected from Mariga State Constituency, said the passengers were abducted on Thursday from five vehicles as they travelled on the Mariga-Kontagora road in Niger State.

In an interview with journalists in Minna on Friday, Mr Sarkin-Daji said the bandits blocked the Mariga-Kontagora road between Baban-Lamba and Beri.

The military had refuted the claim made on the floor of the House that bandits were on its training ground located in Kontagora Local Government Area and extending to Mariga LGA.

However, Mr Sarkin-Daji said the military probably does not have the right information.

He said families had taken ransom to the bandits several times in a forest that is part of the military training ground for the release of their kidnapped members.

He said the victims released after ransom payments told their families that they were kept in the forest not far from the Kontagora Army Barracks.

The Speaker said the passengers kidnapped on Thursday on the Mariga-Kontagora road were also moved to the same forest.

He urged the military to get the right information and flush out the bandits from the forest.

“As members representing our people, we get feedback from our constituents of their plights. So, before we present anything on the floor of the House, we have done our investigation very well.

“It is not as if we are underrating the military capacity to fight bandits and terrorists, but it is not right to just dismiss the complaints of our people. We want the federal government and concerned authorities to know their plights.

“The communities said the military training ground had become a safe haven for bandits who always come out of that forest to attack them, kidnap people and take them to the same forest. Even the kidnapped victims that were released after the payment of ransom said they were taken to the same bush and they could sight the Kontagora Army Barracks from where they were kept by the bandits.

“What we expect from the military was to seek more information about what victims have told us and flush the bandits out. But you cannot just come out to refute what a member of House of Assembly had said.

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“Let me tell you, as the military refuted what one of our members said Wednesday, on Thursday, October 31, bandits blocked the road between Baban-Lamba and Beri and kidnapped all passengers in five vehicles. More than 20 passengers were kidnapped and taken to the same forest. From Kontagora to Beri is a vast land belonging to Army Barracks Kontagora.

“So, refuting the complaint of people is not right. The military should do the needful and flush out these criminals. The military is made to protect the people. So, we will continue to speak out to let the federal government and all stakeholders know the plight of our people,” the Speaker said.