The Secretary to the Sokoto State Government, Prof. Bashir Garba has advised the federal government to provide motorcycles and camels to the security operatives deployed to combat banditry in the northwest.
According to him, this is the only way to end the menace which had already claimed thousands of lives in Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto and Katsina states.
He said that there were places where heavy machines could not reach because of the terrain, making it difficult for the operators to respond to emergency situation.
Prof. Bashir was responding to complaints by both locals and security agencies over the inaccessibility of some areas prone to bandits’ attacks.
He said the federal government need to copy from the neighbouring Niger Republic where camels, bicycles and motorcycles were provided to military on special assignments.
“This is to enable them reach some hard-to-reach areas because of their terrain,” he said.
He added: “These bandits are using bicycles and motorcycles to launch their attacks on remote communities and flee before the arrival of security operatives.”
“If the government could provide the military with equipments adaptable to the terrains such as motorcycles and camels and train them on how to use them it will help them a lot in responding to emergency situation,” he said.
Garba, while responding to questions by reporters, said they spend millions of Naira monthly to maintain security in the state.
He added that they were working together with security agencies, and locals to identify the bandits and their collaborators.