Elders in Zamfara raises alarm after arrested bandits were released by security agencies

Security services in Zamfara state have been chastised for releasing bandits and their accomplices who had been apprehended

According to Channels Television, a group of elder statesmen in Zamfara State have expressed concern about the indiscriminate release of imprisoned bandits and their accomplices, and have called on authorities to act. 

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The group encouraged law enforcement agencies to put a stop to the act, noting it as one of the factors contributing to the state's increased insecurity.

The group raised the alarm during a meeting in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, where it recommended that Community-Based Associations be revitalized in order to generate funds for the establishment of primary and secondary schools that would provide free education to orphans who lost their parents as a result of banditry in order to prevent future insecurity.

Senator Saidu Dansadau, a former federal politician, spoke to press shortly after the meeting.

While conceding that the security situation in the state had improved dramatically since the termination of telecom services, he noted that bandit assaults continue in regions like Birnin Magaji, Shinkafi, and Zurmi Local Government Areas.

“The committee expresses its dismay and disappointment for indiscriminate release of criminals by the authorities who either arrest them or to whom the criminals are handed-over when they are arrested by the military, vigilante group or any other security organisation,” he said.

“We appeal to the law enforcement agencies in the state to, for the sake of God, have a paradigm shift from this indiscriminate release of criminals and result to arraigning the criminals in the court of law because the meeting identified this indiscriminate and incessant release of criminals as one of the immediate causes of the escalation of criminality in the state.”

Traditional rulers, religious leaders, elderly citizens, and some political officeholders are among the group's members, who have gathered to explore how they might mobilize Muslims and Christians to pray for peace and help the government in its fight against banditry in Zamfara State.

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