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John Adams, Minna
As the activities of the Armed Bandits continue across communities in Niger state, the State Commander of Vigilantes Corp, Mallam Nasir Mohammed Manta has disclosed that over 100 of his men have lost their lives to Armed Bandits across the state in the last one year.
Although most of the Vigilantes were killed in ambush, the Commander believed that lack of weapons to withstand the superior fire power of the bandits is largely responsible to the high casualties.
The State Commander stated this in Minna on Saturday when he addressed Newsmen on the efforts of his Men in the fight against the Armed Bandits and other insurgence in the state and the challenges facing the group.
Manta also disclosed that his members equally recorded some breakthroughs, killing a number of the Bandits, but added that lack of motivation from government and equipment remained their greatest handicap in the war against the Bandits.
According to him, a number of arrests were also made and handed over to the police for further action.
He maintained that members of Vigilantes in the state remained irrevocably committed to the fight against banditry towards sanitising the state, and therefore appealed to the government to give the necessary support and equip the Vigilantes to enable them confront the Bandits.
He however applauded the synergy between them and other security agencies such as Nigeria Army Police and Civil Defence in the state which he said has been yielding positive results.
Niger state Vigilante Commander also commended the support of Niger state and Local Government Areas despite the dwindling revenue and Federal allocation which was occasioned by CoronaVirus pandemic and called for more support to enable succeed in daunting task ahead.
On the emergence of some voluntary security outfits in the state, Mallam Manta stressed the need for the state government to collapsed them into a Vigilante to avoid duplication and unnecessary wrangling.
He however debunked insinuation that some members of the Vigilante in the state attacked and vandalised a Divisional Police station in Kagara headquarters of Rafi Local Government Area and went away with some arms and ammunitions, saying that it was false and misleading.
Mal Nasir Mohd Manta identified some of his members who lost their lives this year to include Alh Dan Asabe Mariga Alh Tukur Karanbana Magaji Dangata Liyo Gudaci Tanko Gurmana and Aminu Bassa among others and prayed Allah to forgive them.
