Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Wuse, says it has become imperative to “go spiritual” over the activities of bandits in the state.
Wuse stated this when he led his colleagues to the Government House over the recent abductions of schoolchildren and staff of Government Science College, Kagara, as well as passengers of the state transport authority bus.
The Speaker, who condemned the abductions, said there was a need for the state to embrace prayers.
“We need to go spiritual. We need to pray for the state, we need prayers so that God will see us through,” he said.
Wuse also disclosed that Assembly will amend its laws to make harsher punishment for informants of bandits.
“We have decided that by next plenary, we will amend the law to give informants to criminals stiffer punishment,” he said.
He urged the state government to meet with traditional rulers and emphasised to them the need to be careful of strangers’ movements in their communities.
Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello, in his response said he is open to the review of the law to provide punishment for people who provide information to bandits.
“Going forward, we have to put in place necessary measures to know the root cause of the security challenges in the state and how to address it,” the governor said.