Tinubu orders 24-hour aerial surveillance on Kwara, Kebbi, Niger

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has ordered a 24-hour security cordon around forests in Kwara, Kebbi and Niger states, to link up with the boots on the ground, following a surge in kidnappings and terrorist activities.

His directive came as over 20 persons, including a pregnant woman, nursing mothers and children, were abducted Monday evening in a fresh attack on Isapa, a community just five kilometres from Eruku, in Kwara State.

This is even as a cleric and a traditional ruler yesterday raised alarm over the killing and maiming of people in some communities in Nasarawa State, as parents of abducted students in Kebbi and Niger states have pleaded with the Federal Government to rescue their children.

The Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, also yesterday, threatened to withdraw teachers from classrooms if their lives were no longer safe, and demanded action from the government to release teachers in captivity.
The United Nations urged the government to stop kidnapping, and prosecute perpetrators to put a halt to the malaise, as the Presidency explained reason bandits’ enclaves could not bombed by security agencies.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, who disclosed this via a post on his X handle yesterday, said the President ordered the Nigerian Air Force to intensify aerial surveillance over the deepest stretches of the forests where criminals were believed to be hiding.

The operation, he noted, would run round the clock, with air assets maintaining constant communication and coordination with ground troops.

Dare explained that the directive would be in all axis where joint operations are expected to facilitate the rescue of kidnapped victims.

‘’Communities in the affected regions have also been urged to provide timely intelligence on suspicious movements to aid security forces in restoring safety,’’ Dare added.

Recall that there is an increased wave of brazen kidnappings and violent raids across Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger states, a development that has exposed the alarming reach of criminal networks exploiting remote forests and ungoverned terrain.