ADC Raises Alarm Over ‘Bandit Tax’ In Zamfara, Overrun Village In Kwara

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), has tasked President Bola Tinubu on the extortion of farmers in Zamfara communities and the sacking of an entire village in Kwara State by armed bandits.

In a statement on Friday by the spokesman of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the bandits had extorted over N56m from the affected Zamfara communities.

It also stated that an entire village in Kwara had been overrun by bandits, forcing the villagers to flee their homes.

Charging President Tinubu to act by restoring order and protecting lives and livelihood in the affected communities, the ADC said the incidents have eroded state authority and entrenched criminality across Nigeria.

The party African Democratic expressed deep concern over the developments, citing a viral video of how bandits sacked an entire village in Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State.

“Nigeria under President Tinubu and the APC is sliding into a dangerous new phase of state failure,” the ADC stated.

The party deplored a situation where farmers had to pay money to terrorists before they could gain access to their own farmlands.

Stating that it’s not just a Zamfara tragedy, but a national warning, the party said the developments were an evidence of national surrender.

“A situation where people had to abandon an entire town to bandits, in the very heart of the country, is not just a local challenge but an evidence of national surrender.

“When armed gangs can collect N56 million from farmers for the ‘right’ to plant food, the issue is no longer about insecurity. It is about criminal elements contesting the right to govern a part of Nigeria.

“When criminals can tax citizens at gunpoint, it means the state has surrendered its monopoly of force and state authority is in retreat.

“We are dismayed that this could be happening in a country with one of the largest defence budgets in Africa, yet our farmers are left to bargain with warlords for their survival.

“We recall that in the same Zamfara state, only a few days ago, about 50 people were abducted in one swoop.

“Added to this is the eerie picture of an entire town where all the people, the young, the old and the infirm had to seek refuge elsewhere for fear of bandits attacks.

“There are other cases which show a very alarming pattern suggesting that other parts of the country considered safe may not be so for long.

“The pertinent question therefore is whether the Tinubu-led APC government is still in charge and can still be trusted to do its most fundamental duty, which is to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians,” the ADC said.

The party recalled that in November 2014, President Bola Tinubu, then leader of opposition party, asked then President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over the Boko Haram Challenges in The North-East of the country.

The ADC quoted Tinubu to have said to Jonathan, “If you control the armed forces and you are the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic, why should any part of this country be under occupation? And you give us excuses every day. In any civilized country Jonathan should have resigned.”

The opposition party noted that the security situation that President Tinubu was using to campaign against Jonathan in 2014 had multiplied exponentially under his own watch.

It further noted that terrorists and bandits are currently enjoying great prosperity under Tinubu’s direct watch, but that no one is calling on him to resign.

“The ADC does not want President Tinubu to resign. We only ask him to do his job.

“We also ask the pertinent question; why did the President think that the security situation in Rivers State warranted the declaration of state of emergency, but the one in Zamfara with industrial scale kidnapping and a direct challenge to the authority of the Nigerian State by way of bandit tax does not even deserve a direct comment from him?

“We will like to urge President Tinubu to drop whatever else that pre-occupies him and direct his attention to Zamfara State and other parts of the country menaced by bandits.

“If the Tinubu administration cannot guarantee the safety of our farms and farming communities, if people could be forced to abandon their homes out of fear, then it has failed in its most basic responsibility.

“You cannot boast that you are in charge of your country while your citizens are negotiating their survival with criminals,” the party said.

ADC Raises Alarm Over ‘Bandit Tax’ In Zamfara, Overrun Village In Kwara is first published on The Whistler Newspaper