FORMER Minister of Interior and retired Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, has raised fresh alarm over escalating insecurity in Northern Nigeria, warning that bandits and insurgents have now assumed full control of some communities.
Speaking at the First Media and Security Summit in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, on Monday, Dambazau said the region has been under severe security threats for more than 20 years, but the current situation has reached a dangerous point.
According to him, armed criminals no longer limit themselves to abductions and killings, they now impose taxes, control daily life, and even make laws for terrified residents living under their captivity.
“We have gotten to a situation where bandits and insurgents have taken over some of our communities, taxing and making laws for them,” he stated gravely.
The former army chief lamented the humanitarian consequences already visible across the North.
He cited mass killings in mosques in Katsina, Borno, Zamfara, and Kano, widespread displacement, and massive economic destruction linked to terrorism, farmer-herder clashes, and banditry.
“Thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
The number of widows and orphans has increased. Farmers have lost their farms and herders’ cattle have been rustled without action from state actors,” Dambazau decried.
He stressed that economic empowerment remains the most effective weapon against insecurity:
“Once poverty reduces, insecurity will reduce. We must begin to rethink our approach.”
