The outgoing vice chancellor of Federal University Gusau Professor Magaji Garba said about 30,000 lives were lost and 3 million people displaced as a result of armed banditry and other crimes in the country from 2009 to date.
Professor Garba who was represented by the institution’s Deputy vice chancellor administration, Dr Ahmad Galadima stated this during the 1st Annual National Conference on “Armed Banditry and National Security in Nigeria: Issues, Perspectives and the Way Forward” held in Gusau.
He said all stakeholders must come together to brainstorm on how to find a lasting solution to the menace of rural banditry that is threatening the social and economic well-being of the people in the country.
The vice chancellor further explained that the university community would support all the relevant authorities and stakeholders in stemming the tide of armed banditry in the country.
In his address, Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle said his administration would continue to adopt the carrot and stick approach in order to end the activities of armed criminals in the state.
Matawalle who was represented by the state commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Alhaji Ibrahim Jibo Magayaki Kaura said the peace pact between his administration and the armed men is working.
“Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle has initiated a peace dialogue with the armed men and it has tremendously yielded a positive result. Dialogue remains our only option on the table and together we will over come this challenge by the power of the Almighty God,” he added
