Insecurity: Bandit Attacks No longer Daily or W eekly in North — Adamawa commissioner

By Sunday Ameh

The Adamawa State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Leader Leneke, has said banditry and insurgency across Northern Nigeria have been significantly reduced, with attacks no longer occurring daily or weekly as they did in the past.

Leneke made the claim on Tuesday during an interview.

According to him, the Tinubu administration inherited a severe security crisis involving insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and farmers-herders clashes across the North.

He said insurgency, particularly in the North-East, had been “largely degraded”, while banditry in the North-West had also been substantially reduced.

“There might be isolated cases here and there, just like the one I mentioned, but they are no longer a daily occurrence. They are no longer a weekly occurrence, not even a monthly occurrence as the case may be,” Leneke said.

The commissioner, however, acknowledged that insecurity had not been completely eliminated, citing a recent attack along the Adamawa-Borno border in which several people were reportedly killed.

He described the incident as “sad and painful”, saying the state government was working with security agencies to restore calm.

Leneke also claimed that the farmers-herders crisis had been largely brought under control, estimating that between 85 and 90 per cent of the clashes had been addressed.

“I can broadly say 85 to 90% of this crisis have been taken care of. Farmers can now go to farm, herders can now also rear their animals without the daily clashes that take place between them,” he said.

He credited the Tinubu administration’s security architecture with the reported improvement, saying residents could now travel on some roads previously considered dangerous.

The commissioner further disclosed that President Tinubu had approved the establishment of about five Nigerian Army battalions across Adamawa State, including in Ganye, Luman, Madagali and Mubi.

Leneke also linked the security gains to ongoing infrastructure projects across the Northern Nigeria, including major road projects.

While acknowledging that recent attacks showed that the security threat remained, he maintained that the frequency and intensity of violence had declined significantly compared with previous years.

He urged Nigerians to assess the Tinubu administration’s security record against the situation it inherited in 2023.