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Terrorists, locally dubbed as bandits, have again carved out a territory in Nigeria's Niger State, imposing taxes on residents and some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The bandits have reportedly occupied Dogon-Dawa, Kurege, Kangarewa and Mangoro communities among several others; “governing” the entire areas according to their own rules. They have so far imposed restriction on free movement of goods and persons, forcing people to pay levies before doing so, residents said.
However, some youths in Niger State have accused the state governor of not showing enough concern for the affected communities. They took to social media platforms to lament what they called the failure of the state government to address incessant killings. The youths described Governor Abubakar Sani Bello as a ‘Ghost Governor’. Some of them compared the governor with his counterparts in Kaduna, Borno and Zamfara and scored him low. The post that generated critical reactions was on the “Nigerlites speak out” Facebook wall by one Farida Bosso and it reads in part: “Bandits are killing people in Niger State communities. In Kaduna State, we saw El-Rufai present in every scene in his state; same with Mutawalle of Zamfara. But in Niger State, we have a ghost.” Media reports indicate that the governor did not visit to condole and sympathise with those affected by the attacks.
RINGTRUE BY YEMI ADEBOWALE
Some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s men have been going about mocking Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). It is shocking to see these presidential aides attacking TI and blaming hapless Nigerians for our country’s poor rating. The President has also maintained a treacherous silence on this report which placed Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa, with Guinea Bissau in the first position. According to TI, CPI worsened under the Buhari government. The 2020 Index gave Nigeria 25 from 100 obtainable points, thus ranking this country 149 out of the 180 assessed.
Transparency drew its conclusion from 13 data sources that captured the assessment of experts and business executives on a number of corrupt behaviours in Nigeria’s public sector including bribery, diversion of public funds, use of public office for private gain and nepotism in the civil service.