Nigeria: Banditry, Insurgency Threat To 2023 General Elections — El-Rufai

As Nigeria approaches a major election season in 2023, the governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has expressed worry that banditry and insurgency, as well as population census stand as threat to the political event expected to usher in a new president, urging urgent action to address the challenges.

The governor while receiving the state’s quarterly security report presented by the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan on Friday revealed that a total of 446 people were killed while 1,789 others were equally kidnapped by bandits across the state in the last six months.

The governor also disclosed that 152 bandits were killed and 624 others arrested by troops in different parts of the state during the period under review.

On his part, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who was present at the presentation, insisted that the security situation in the country has tremendously improved.

He expressed displeasure over the security alert issued by the United States embassy in Nigeria, saying it set the nation in panic mood and terrorised the citizens.

Kaduna has had its own share of hightened attacks by bandits and terrorists in the past five years, with several lives lost, thousands kidnapped and means of livelihood disrupted.

Notable among them is the kidnap of train passengers from Abuja earlier in the year.