The former minister of interior and retired chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, has raised alarm over rising insecurity in northern Nigeria, saying terrorists now control communities and impose taxes on residents.
Speaking on Monday at the first media and security summit held in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state, with the theme Existential Threats and National Security, Dambazau lamented that insecurity in the North has persisted for more than two decades.
He noted that terrorist attacks and banditry have devastated several states, including Katsina, Borno, Zamfara, and Kano, where even mosques have not been spared from violence.
“We have gotten to a situation where bandits and insurgents have taken over some of our communities, taxing and making laws for them.
“Thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
“The number of widows and orphans has increased, and farmers have lost farms while herders’ cattle have been rustled without meaningful action from state actors,” Dambazau said.
The retired general urged northern governors to take concrete steps to tackle the crisis by establishing ministries of mineral resources to harness natural deposits in their states and boost revenue.
He added that improving local economies would help reduce poverty and insecurity across the region.
Dambazau further advised state governments to strengthen traditional institutions, invest in agricultural development, address the growing number of out-of-school children, and promote social inclusion to rebuild stability in the north.
He emphasized that over 70 percent of Nigerians living in poverty due to insecurity are from the northern region, warning that religious extremism remains a major driver of violence.
“Religious extremism is a major threat to northern security and has led groups like Boko Haram, Lakurawa terrorists, and armed bandits to unleash violence on innocent citizens,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who also spoke at the summit, said tackling insecurity requires collective effort and national dialogue.
“Security is everybody’s responsibility. We were not like this before, Nigeria was not what it is today.
“We can solve this problem by coming together, understanding one another, and implementing the decisions we agree upon,” Abubakar said.
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa and Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi also called for regional collaboration to address insecurity, identifying climate change, poverty, and weak governance as possible root causes.
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