We Are Ready To Dialogue With Terrorists In Niger State; We Have Largest Number Of Fulani Herdsmen In The World, Says Governor Bago After Deadly Attacks

Terrorists recently murdered 13 troops in Niger State’s Chukuba Ward in the Shiroro Local Government Area..…

The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago has disclosed the strategies his government wants to adopt to tackle insecurity in the state.

Mr Bago who spoke to journalists on Thursday shortly after he met with the presidency disclosed that he had set up a machinery that would dialogue with the non-state actors terrorising the peace of his state.

Terrorists recently murdered 13 troops in Niger State’s Chukuba Ward in the Shiroro Local Government Area.

They also claimed responsibility for an attack that killed soldiers along the Zungeru-Tegina route in the Madaka Ward of the Rafi Local Government Area of the state, as well as bringing down a Nigerian Air Force helicopter on Monday.

The state governor who described the incident as unfortunate expressed his condolences to the armed forces.

The governor added that his government would employ diplomacy to end the incessant terrorist attacks but if it failed, his government would not hesitate to apply full military force against the bandits.

He explained that the reason for taking that decision was due to the high number of Fulani herders in the state.

He said: “Unfortunately we lost some of the armed forces both the air force and the army and again we commiserate with the Nigerian Air Force over the losses and the armed forces in general. We also thank them for their collaboration. They have been very supportive. They have helped us seriously.

“We have come to the villa now. My senators, the members of the House of Representatives also thank Mr President for his support. We need a lot of collaboration from the local communities, the presidency and the state.

“We are looking at two options. The first is non-kinetic. As a government, we have put in machinery to start talking to the bandits and other elements that are not in tandem with living peacefully. As a government, we have created a ministry of nomadic and pastoral affairs to look at the issues of Fulani herdsmen. You will need to understand that Niger state has the largest congregation in the world, of Fulani herdsmen. Niger state is 8.3 million acres of land with bodies of water.

“The pastoral environment is very good for grazing and a lot of Fulani across the world, not just Africa, you know converge in Niger State. So we don’t want them to leave. We don’t want any major military activities while we talk to them (bandits). If we don’t get to that level, probably we have to go fully military.”