N40m Bandits’ Levy on Sokoto Community: We’re on Red Alert, Says Police Command
From Bashir Rabe Mani, Sokoto
The Sokoto State Police Command says it remains on red alert to effectively thwart an imminent bandits’ attack on Kebbe town, Headquarters of Kebbe Local Government Area of the state.
This assurance comes amid threats by a group of bandits to unleash mayhem on Kebbe town and other adjoining villages if residents fail to pay a N40 million compulsory levy imposed on them.
According to impeccable local sources, the notorious bandits are threatening to attack the area on Friday, a day billed for the commissioning of the newly upgraded Jumaat Mosque in Kebbe town by the state government.
The sources also reliably revealed that officials of the local government had alerted the state government on the levy and the imminent threat.
Other concerned sources are suggesting the postponement of the mosque commissioning to a later date, as the bandits were said to have sent invitations to other bandit groups in preparation for the planned attack.
However, the spokesperson of the Sokoto State Police Command, DSP Ahmed Rufai, told our correspondent in Sokoto on Thursday in a telephone interview: “Yes, the command is aware of the imminent threat.
“The command is on red alert and we will never rest on our oars to fully protect the lives and properties of all the law-abiding residents of Sokoto State.”
It could be recalled that a bandits’ attack in Kebbe and other adjoining villages penultimate week left in its wake the loss of lives and properties, with scores of innocent citizens abducted.
The development has triggered an influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), into other safe havens, including Jega town in the neighbouring Kebbi State.
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