Banditry taking too much toll on us, traditional rulers tell Buhari

The National Council of Traditional Rulers told President Muhammadu Buhari that the activities of bandits were taking too much toll on their people.

A delegation of the council made up of representatives from the six geo-political zones of the country met with the president at the presidential villa, Abuja to request him to do more to restore normalcy.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, the leader of the delegation and Etsu Nupe, His Royal Highness Yahaya Abubakar, revealed that the bandits make use of sophisticated weapons that reach kilometres compared to the ones borne by the security forces.

He, therefore, stressed the need to equip the Nigerian military to be able to match the bandits. The royal father said their people were suffering because of banditry and that they were urgently asking for succour from the government.

He said the monarchs also requested the government to provide them with a role in the effort to resolve insecurity in the country.

The Etsu Nupe said the president has reassured that beyond what the administration is already doing, it will equip the military and expressed commitment to deal ruthlessly with the criminals.

Asked to comment on the allegation that some traditional rulers collaborate with foreign elements to carry out criminal activities, he said that the allegation could not be far from the truth but that mechanism was being put in place to checkmate such persons.

The traditional rulers were led to the briefing by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd).