President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a military crackdown on bandits operating in rural communities in Zamfara State.
President Buhari gave the order on Wednesday in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, following fresh attacks on some communities in Shinkafi and Maradun Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
He also approved some new measures to complement the efforts of the Nigerian Military and other security agencies in tackling the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the Northern part of the country.
“To enable the Army carry out this new mandate, the President has approved the request of the Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali (rtd), for the stationing of a full battalion of Special Forces in Zamfara State, and the operationalisation of the newly-established 8 Division of the Nigerian Army in Sokoto in the new Order of Battle (OBAT),” the statement said.
The President further approved the relocation of One Brigade of the Nigerian Army from Sokoto to Gusau, the Zamfara state capital, following the take-off of the 8 Division.
He equally approved the setting up of an Intelligence Fusion Centre to tackle the desperate actions of the terrorists who make use of mostly female, especially underage girls for suicide missions in the North East.
The centre is to be set up in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, for the purpose of gathering and sharing intelligence among the security agencies in the country.
“This phase of the war will be intelligence-driven and the new centre is expected to intensify the harvesting and sharing of intelligence so as to bring to an early closure, the desperate last-minute activities of the terrorists,” the statement added.
The statement comes a day after the President directed the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to visit Zamfara State and report back his findings of the deadly attacks.
He had also ordered the police boss to deploy more police personnel to prevent further attacks by armed bandits in the state.
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