A member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Jafaru Mohammad Ali, has issued a passionate plea to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging him to intervene urgently as terrorists tighten their grip on communities in Niger State.
Addressing journalists after the House adopted his motion on the worsening security situation, Ali invoked the historical and political ties between Tinubu and the Borgu Emirate, where the President holds the traditional title of “Jagaban of Borgu.”
“We gave him the title; we supported him from the beginning. We delivered every polling unit for him,” the lawmaker said.
“How can he abandon us now? My people are suffering. We don’t want anything from him except peace.”
Ali lamented that military personnel deployed to the crisis-ridden communities remain poorly equipped and are forced to confront heavily armed insurgents with inadequate tools.
“How can soldiers in open vehicles confront criminals hiding under cover?” he questioned.
The legislator raised the alarm that bandits have overrun Kainji National Park, one of the country’s most important conservation areas, forcing rangers to flee and converting tourism facilities into their base of operations.
“The park is gone. Nobody can access it anymore,” he declared.
He detailed a wave of killings, mass displacement, and forced cooperation agreements between residents and armed groups as communities struggle to survive the worsening siege.
Moving his motion under Matters of Urgent Public Importance, Ali cited several recent tragedies, including the November 21 kidnapping of 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara LGA; the November 4 ambush on his convoy; and the November 2 killings in Gidan Guga.
He warned that the criminals are now using Kainji National Park as a command hub to launch attacks across Niger, Kebbi, Kwara, and even into Benin Republic, adding that many of the fighters are foreign nationals moving through a network of linked forests.
The lawmaker urged the House to direct the Chief of Defence Staff to deploy better-equipped troops and establish Forward Operating Bases in Lumma, Audu Fari, Agwara, and Mago.
He also called for NEMA and the Refugee Commission to support displaced residents and requested that NALDA and the Agriculture Ministry convert the Kainji corridor into a productive agricultural zone once secured.
Ali recently survived an assassination attempt when his convoy was ambushed along the Lumma–Babanna road.
One soldier and six others were killed in the attack before security operatives evacuated him to safety.
