Niger State Govt Raises Alarm Over Plot By Terrorists To Set Up Camp In The State

• …according to the SSG, reveal that bandits have begun to align with insurgents to indoctrinate residents in some communities of…

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram terrorists are planning to establish a camp in Niger State, according to authorities. 

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Matane, raised the alarm on Tuesday while briefing reporters in Minna, the state capital.

He decried the escalated rate of attacks by bandits on innocent residents in recent weeks, saying they were now collaborating with insurgents to worsen the security situation in the state.

Matane lamented that the insurgents – who have carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of thousands of people in the North East over the years – were suspected to be present already in two local government areas of the state.

Read also: Niger State Govt Raises Alarm Over Terrorists Take Over

He was worried that the state was in such a situation despite the effort of the government to protect its citizens, including spending a sum of ₦5 billion to combat the security challenges in Niger.

Intelligence reports, according to the SSG, reveal that bandits have begun to align with insurgents to indoctrinate residents in some communities of Shiroro Local Government Area (LGA) to imbibe strict Islamic ideology and ban women from going to schools.

He listed some of the communities visited by the insurgents to include Koki, Madaka, Kurebe, Kusare, and Chukuba, where residents were assured of protection but asked to embark on civil disobedience and reject western education.

He added that ISWAP fighters were also making an attempt to establish a permanent camp at Babana Forest around the Kaiji National Park in Borgu LGA.

The insurgents, the SSG explained, tried to contact the state government through a video in which they claimed not to be criminals, but messengers sent by God to establish an Islamic caliphate in the area.

He stated that the insurgents, said to be spotted in communities bordering Nigeria and Benin Republic, have started going around to indoctrinate the people.

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