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The recent surge in the activities of bandits in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, and other parts of the country, has unsettled the populace.
Nigerians are even more worried as the identities of the criminals and their sponsors remain a subject of conjecture.
Like Senator Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker said in a post on his official X handle, there may be beneficiaries of the huge sums of money constantly paid as ransom to secure the release of abducted citizens from the captivity of the deadly kidnappers.
Curious about the activities of the hoodlums, the former Senator said the puzzle Nigerians “are yet to solve is that the foot soldiers who kidnap people and receive ransom in hundreds of millions remain poor and look wretched whenever they are arrested.
“They are mostly in their teens and twenties. There is no evidence of wealth or comfort in their lives and even the clothes they wear.
“The question is who are the ultimate beneficiaries of these huge sums of money and who supplies them with the weapons they use for their acts of criminality?”
recalls that a former federal lawmaker, Hon. Sani Muhammad Takori had recently alleged that banditry activities in Zamfara State were being sponsored by some selfish and powerful individuals.
According to him, when the security crisis was brewing at its warning stage, the situation was neglected by stakeholders in the state.
“When it started as a Fulani/farmers clash, all of us did not take the matter very seriously. We thought that it wasn’t something that would have lasted for so long”, he said.
Also recalls that Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State on January 12 revealed that security agents know the financiers of the bandits terrorizing the state.
In an interview on national television, the governor, who was reacting to the recent attacks in his state, where over 200 people were killed, said the terrorists are known.
“What I can tell you about the killings in Plateau and the attacks in recent times are pure acts of terrorism.