Fulani leaders not involved Yauri abduction - Kebbi gov

Fulani leaders in Kebbi State have denied involvement in the recent abduction of some staff and students of the Federal Government College, Yauri.

The state governor, Atiku Bagudu, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Bagudu was at the State House to the president on the incident.

Most bandits are believed to belong to the Fulani tribe who are mostly found in forests due to their pastoral nature.

Premium Times had reported how armed bandits stormed the unity college last week and abducted an undisclosed number of staff and students.

Aside from the kidnap, the bandits killed security personnel during an exchange of gunfire.

The heavily armed bandits, who came on motorcycles, reportedly entered the town from the neighbouring Rijau forest in Niger State.

Few days after the abduction, the army later announced the rescue of about 10 students and three staff of the learning institution.

Mr Bagudu stated that the Fulani leaders in the state have since come out to condemn the abduction from the group he described as a renegade.

He said their condemnation followed his call to all groups in the state to cooperate with security agencies to fish out the armed bandits.

He added that the Fulani leaders have pledged to assist the government in every way possible to apprehend the assailants.

“Our stand, I have made it very clear this is condemnable, this should not happen and all people of goodwill, all good people should mobilise to confront evil and evil elements and criminal elements in our society. It’s not just a job for the security agencies, we have to support them. We have to mobilise.

“Since I made that statement, which I meant by every stretch of the imagination, many groups have come out to demonstrate similar supports and yesterday we have seen mobilisation by the Niger State governor and I believe we’ll see more in the coming days.

“Nigerians should unite so that we confront criminality. Even yesterday, Fulani leaders in Kebbi State all visited Government House, Kebbi, even though I was not there to receive them, to condemn and to distance themselves from those renegade groups, or renegade criminal elements and to offer to support in whatever role the security agencies will want them to play,” he said.

Thriving banditryNiger State, where the bandits, came from, has witnessed more attacks from bandits recently despite heightened security measure in the area. The state shares boundaries with Kebbi State.

Aside from Niger, other states like Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto experienced attacks and kidnap by bandits.

The most recent incident was the abduction of 21 students of Greenfield University in Kaduna State.

The students of the private university in Kaduna State were abducted on April 20 after bandits invaded their hostels. Five of the abducted students were later killed by the bandits.