Abdullahi Jijji, the security guard of Attahiru Bafarawa, former Governor of Sokoto State, has been shot dead by gunmen who stormed the former Governor’s residence.
The gunmen also kidnapped Abdulrasheed Sa’idu, the 16-year-old cousin of the former Governor during the attack, which happened at Bafarawa in Isa Local Government Area of the state on Friday at 9pm.
The attack came barely 24 hours after the ex-Governor launched a foundation in Abuja named after him, which he said would help in proffering solutions to the incessant banditry and kidnapping, particularly in the northern part of the country.
Sulaiman Shu’aibu Shinkafi, the Director General, Bafarawa Foundation, confirmed the development on Saturday.
He added that the bandits, numbering about 60 and armed with AK47 riffles came on motorcycles and bought N5,000 fuel in the town before invading the house.
A statement by Shinkafi read: “They threatened to wipe out Bafarawa and Kamarawa villages in the Isa Local Government area of the state.
“This is the first time such an attack is happening in Bafarawa town, but the people of Kamarawa, a nearby village, have been experiencing killing, kidnapping and burning of their property.”
Muhammad Sadiq, spokesman for the state Police Command, however, said he was not aware of the attack.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Attahiru Bafarawa Foundation’s proposed 'National Security and Peace Development Summit' on Thursday, the former Governor had identified unemployment, poverty, drug abuse and neighbourhood isolation, among other vices, as the major causes of crimes and criminality in the country.
The former Governor also alleged that some governors were cashing in on the growing spate of insecurity across the country to inflate their security votes.
He lamented that the unending terrorist attacks in the North-East and the banditry with violent kidnapping and killings in the Northwest had not only destroyed socio-economic infrastructures, but had made the regions undesirable destinations to investors.
Nigeria’s security situation, according to him, has degenerated to the extent that efforts and synergy have to be garnered across party affiliations, hence his foundation’s resolve to provide a platform where both serving and retired security chiefs and other experts would use in proffering workable solutions.
He said: "It is against this backdrop that the Bafarawa Foundation has supported the partnership of Kaduna State Government, the community and other northern state governments such as Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kano, Jigawa and Zamfara to undertake this resolution programme.
“This meeting arose from concerns among government institutions, social, political activities and security agencies about the escalation of crime and youth involvement in these crimes in Nigeria, which were all too often linked to insatiable quest for wealth production, terrorism and extremism.”
He decried that Nigeria’s economy was gradually crumbling with devastating effects on the wellbeing of its citizenry, adding that the summit would help checkmate crimes in the country.
The PDP chieftain noted that being in opposition does not mean he should not stand against evil.
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