Following the attacks on Saturday that left 37 people dead in the state’s northern region, Governor of Sokoto State Ahmed Aliyu called an urgent security meeting on Monday.
On Saturday, the state’s bandits raided three communities in the Tangaza Local Government Area and two others in the Gwadabawa Local Government.
The bandits assaulted the communities of Raka, Raka Dutse, and Filin Gawa, where many people were shot dead and numerous more suffered injuries of varying severity.
Aliyu, whose official visit to Abuja had to be cut short, threatened to make the state dangerous for bandits and other criminal groups.
Following the meeting on Monday evening, the Governor’s press secretary, Abubakar Bawa, spoke to reporters and said that one of the topics discussed was how to coordinate the state’s security architectures.
In order to effectively combat banditry, he added, “there would be a strong synergy between the conventional security operatives and the vigilantes.”
The Governor also bemoaned the actions of informants, which he claimed needed to be confronted head-on in order to stop the ongoing attacks on defenseless civilians.
In order to raise their morale and help them perform their responsibilities to the best of their abilities, he also offered to pay the 5-month allowances owing to security officers working on “Operation Hadarin Daji,” a campaign to put a stop to banditry in the state.
Additionally assuring the families of those killed in the attacks that his government would handle additional difficulties they were facing, Aliyu prayed to Allah for them to be granted the best position in Jannat and expressed his condolences to them.