By Adesina Soyooye
A former Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has made public a heartbreaking incident which occurred in Kebbi State, North-west, Nigeria.
According to Dalung, a Lawyer, who was Minister under the late President Muhammadu Buhari, bandits numbering about 240, invaded and fatally attacked a Nigerian Police Force Formation in Makuku, Sakaba Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
Lamenting the heartbreaking incident, Dalung said the bandits came in about 200 motor cycles and overwhelmed, almost, the Police Formation.
The gallant Police Officers fought back. But inspite of their gallantry, when the intense gunfire stopped, 10 Police personnel paid the supreme price with their lives, while 17 of the bandits lay dead, having been killed by the gallant officers.
Mourning the dead police personnel, and wondering when the rivers of blood flowing across Nigeria will stop, Dalung wrote:
“The news coming out of Makuku in Sakaba Local Government Area of Kebbi State is heartbreaking.
“Ten police officers were reportedly killed when armed bandits attacked security personnel around Rafin Makuku. Two civilians were also killed, while 17 of the attackers were reportedly neutralised.
“Reports say the attackers were a large group, reportedly about 240 men riding more than 200 motorcycles, who moved into Kebbi from the Zamfara axis. They were heavily armed and were able to engage a police formation with enough force to inflict such a devastating casualty on the officers.
“Some reports also indicate that weapons belonging to the slain officers were taken away after the attack.
“And somewhere today, ten families are dealing with that reality.
“What happened in Makuku also tells us something heartbreaking about the security situation in the Northwest. Armed groups are not operating as small bands of criminals hiding in the bush anymore. We are increasingly seeing large groups of armed men moving across state boundaries, in massive scale, mobilising in significant numbers and confronting security forces.
“Kebbi has suffered this violence before. Zamfara has lived with it for years. Parts of Katsina, Benue, Plateau, Sokoto and other states in the country have also endured the same nightmare.
“And the cycle continues.
“We need to ask why these attacks are repeatedly happening, how these groups are moving, where they are getting their weapons and why communities remain vulnerable despite the enormous resources committed to national security?
“This afternoon, I am thinking particularly about the ten police officers who died in Makuku.
“May God rest their souls and give their families the strength to bear this terrible loss.
“But tomorrow, when the condolences are over, Nigerians don’t have to bear a repeat of this again.
Solomon Dalung Esq
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