Informants more dangerous than bandits in Niger – Suspended Shiroro LG Chairman

The embattled Chairman of Shiroro local government area Suleiman Dauda Chukuba has told the Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik Judicial Commission of inquiry that armed bandits were not the problem of the communities but the informants of the bandits.

He said the activities of the informants are more dangerous than the bandits which was the reason he refused to disclose the movement of the vigilante groups that were brought in to assist in curtailing the security challenges in the eight wards that were prone to the armed bandtry attacks.

Suleiman Dauda Chukuba who was speaking under cross examination by the lead counsel to the Commission of inquiry, Bala Mohammed Usman said eight wards of Alawa Bassa, Chukuba kwaki, Erena and Gurmana were under heavy attacks by the armed bandits.

Other wards according to the suspended chairman includes Galdima Kogo, Kurebe and Kushaka wards suffered heavy casualities in the hands of armed bandits.

He further told the Commission that as a result of insecurity in the eight wards, he engaged the services of some vigilante groups and the Joint Taskforce as well as Adara youth Initiative to partner with his vigilante groups in the Local Government Area to curtail the insecurity bedeviling his communities.

He said, the activities of armed bandits in the area have been on for seven years before he assumed office as the Executive Chairman of the Local Government.

“The N35 million in question was approved by the council’s legislature.

Under further cross examination, the suspended chairman told the Commission that he refused to disclose the movement of the visiting vigilante to the public office holders in the council so that they would not leak the information to the bandits

“I did not inform the public office holders of the movement of the visiting vigilante groups with reasons.

“The reason are the armed bandits are not the problem, but the informants. By the time I inform them, the information will be leak to the armed bandits.

“And the bandits will now lay ambush on the vigilante groups. It has happened in Galadima Kogo, where 19 soldiers were ambushed and killed by the armed bandits, in Chukuba.

A mobile police man was killed in Gurmana, two vigilante groups were ambushed and killed by the bandits.These were my reasons of not informing the public office holders on the movement of the visiting vigilante groups”, he told the commission.

He told the Justice Halima Ibrahim Commission further that the N35 million was expended on the visiting vigilante groups and the Adara youths Initiative as well as the Joint Taskforce (JTF), stating that the amount was collectively approved by the council legislature ” and the money were expended in batches”.

Testifying further, the suspended Chairman told the Commission that most of the capital projects on going in the local government were being funded through a loan sourced from United Bank for Africa (UBA) through the State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs who stood as guarantor.

Suleiman Dauda Chukuba confirmed to the Commission that he was held at the detention facility of ICPC in Abuja, for three days and the Director Finance of th Local Government was invited to the ICPC on Friday while the House leader of the local government was also invited together with the director of finance the same day.

He said he was detained for three days because he could not completely give them his statement.