EDITORIAL

For anybody who is a regular user of Sheme-Yankara-Kucheri-Wanzamai-Tsafe road knows fully that the road is no longer safer as bandits can strike at a commuter from any location of the road and at any point in time.

Records have shown that for the past two months, hardly a day passes without cases of either ambush or broad daylight attack on that road by suspected bandits without security agencies taking the most appropriate steps to securing the road.

It could be recalled that, one of the state lawmaker from Shinkafi late G Ahmad was attacked on same road and brutally shot to death by the bandits and several cases of similar attacks on that highway are on the public domain.

Few months after the incident involving the state lawmaker, same bandits laid ambush on the operatives of the Nigerian Army and carelessly killed seven of them.

Again, our managing Editor and Team Lead Dr. Anas Sani Anka narrowly escaped same armed bandits attack when he and hundreds of others were trapped along Wanzamai as a result of hours of armed bandits’ operation along the road in the broad daylight.

Most surprisingly is the manner at which the bandits launched attack on the highway spend hours to abduct and killed people without authorities taking serious measures to securing the road and commuters.

The few checkpoints that were mounted by the police have instead, became source of monetary extortion since the police are only interested in the N50 or N100 they would get from the road users without putting much effort to intensifying surveillance along the highway.

We have listened to the report by the BBC Hausa service this morning and the narrative by some residents over incessant attacks on both the residents and commuters plying the road and to us the lamentations by the residents are not only alarming but challenges that calls for serious action.

To concur with the narrative of the BBC Hausa service, anyone who is a usual traveler on that road in the evening knew fully that, housewives, women, and children are usually spotted trekking bear footed to safer areas along the highway.

It has been on record that all the residents of the villages along that highway from Sheme down Gidan Giye with the exception of may be Yankara do not sleep in their houses due to fear of attacks by the bandits.

The security operatives, especially the Commissioners of police for Zamfara and Katsina need to take decisive measures in securing that all important road before the worst has happened God-forbid.

We are calling on the police Commissioners of the two states to as a matter of public interest orderes for the redeployment of those police officers mounting road block along Sheme, Yankara, Wanzamai, Kucheri, Magazu up to Gusau and replace them with more seriously trained police tactical operatives, so that security of this highway can be enhanced.

In our opinion except for the extortion of the commercial motorists and innocent commuters the police officers operating along this all important highway are of no value to the safety of that road.

It is time for the two state governments of Zamfara and Katsina to either see to the possibility of deploying military operatives along the area or in alternative formed a joint security operatives/squard including members of the local vigilante groups so that the road can be made secured by the users.

Action shall be taken before it becomes too late.