Surprise as anti-banditry protester is, reportedly, arrested in Sokoto
By OUR REPORTER, Sokoto
We wish to remind Governor Ahmed Aliyu of his campaign vow, to rid the state of banditry, even if that’d take the entire state’s resources to do that, Rayanu Abdullahi said.
A frontline #EndBadGovernance protester at local government level in Sokoto State, Rayyanu Abdullah, has been arrested by security operatives in Sokoto, it was gathered on Tuesday.
Rayyanu Abdullahi, who had led the protest at Goronyo Local Government, was taken from Goronyo town, headquarters of the LGA by the security agents Tuesday morning and is in detention in Sokoto, after he was invited to the Goronyo Divisional Police Station.
Abdullahi led the first branch of the protest at local government level on August 1, before the protests erupted into crisis in Yabo and other councils on subsequent days.
Goronyo is located in Sokoto East Senatorial District of the state, the epicenter of banditry that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of communities.
About 70 percent of the settlements in Sokoto East are either sacked or constantly being attacked by bandits, creating thousands of IDPs across the state and in neighbouring Niger Republic.
The protests in Goronyo are focused on the worsening insecurity in Sokoto East. In a viral video on Facebook, Rayyanu Abdullahi said, “We’re not so much concerned about high cost of living but the incessant loss of lives to bandits in our communities
“We’re not a lazy people. All we ask from the government at local, state and federal levels is to be able to cultivate our land, which is made impossible by bandits”.
In the protest video, Abdullahi reminded the Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu of his campaign pledge to deal with insecurity in the state.
“We wish to remind Governor Ahmed Aliyu of his campaign vow, to rid the state of banditry, even if that’d take the entire state’s resources to do that,” he said.
At a recent visit to Goronyo, to distribute relief materials, the Governor’s entourage, which included the state’s APC leader, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, were booed by the residents, who chanted, “we want security!”
The Senator was shouted down by the crowd, who also chorused support for the Senator for Sokoto East, Abubakar Lamido, who is widely praised for exhibiting concern for the plight of the people of the area.
Rayyanu Abdullahi’s arrest is widely suspected to be at the instance of Governor Aliyu, as a lash back on the Goronyo incident because the protests in Goronyo have been peaceful, without any incident of violence.
