A group, Arewa Initiative for Peaceful Coexistence in Southern Nigeria, has decried the rising insecurity in the Northern region in spite of efforts by security forces to contain the situation.
The Chairman of the Association, Alhaji Musa Saidu, made their feelings known in an interview with newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.
Saidu said the Federal Government should quickly initiate new modalities to secure the lives and property of citizens across the region.
According to him, the Northwest and North Central have been trapped in serious crises heightened by banditry and systematic violent displacement of farming communities.
“The bandits kill, kidnap, rape, loot, rustle cattles and displace communities in Kaduna, Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Benue and Plateau states.
“Government must take urgent action to safeguard villages and farming communities suffering from these attacks,” he added.
He noted that the situation has been captured in a recent report of the UN High Commission for Refugees, and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.
Saidu said the report indicated that 210,354 people from 171 communities have been displaced by bandits in recent attacks in the northwest alone.
“From this figure, Zamfara accounted for 144,996, Sokoto had 35,941, and 29,417 were in Katsina,” he explained.
