The last Saturday massacre of scores of residents and security personnel at Galadiman Kogo in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State has continued to elicit reactions.
The villagers are now blaming the government, stating that the attack could have been averted, while the State government is blaming the villagers for not being proactive when they noticed the movement of the terrorists towards their town.
The State Governor, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello had in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, CPS Mrs Mary Noel-Berje on Monday, said, “it would have been unsuccessful if villagers from Galape and Kudodo in Allawa community had alerted the security agencies when they noticed movements of the terrorists towards the town.
Security agencies cannot perform effectively and efficiently without getting appropriate support and intelligence from the people”.
Irked by the comment, a group known as the Concerned Shiroro Youth of Niger State, on behalf of the residents, vehemently faulted the statement, saying resorting to playing blame game over the attack was an outright insult to the collective sensibility of the people of the area.
The group, in a press statement jointly signed by its co-conveners, Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokki and Bello Ibrahim and made available to journalists, noted that shifting blame on villagers over terrorists attack is one of the indices of a weak, failed and non-performing government.
They explained that contrary to Government’s claim, the locals took proactive step and informed the authorities concerned about the imminent attack, having gotten a hint about their (terrorists) movement towards the direction of Galadima Kogo.
Meanwhile, an All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart and former Commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism in Niger State, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa has urged President Muhammad Buhari to stop playing politics with security challenges confronting the State, adding that the State was under siege.
“The situation in Niger State is worse than what was experienced during the Nigerian civil war. I strongly appeal to President Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, match his words with action. The villagers are helpless; government needs to flush out the terrorists out of the state,” the former State Publicity Secretary of APC advised.