Banditry, bad leadership APC’s legacy in Plateau, says Wike
The only project the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has continued to give Plateau State is banditry, killings and bad leadership, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said.
Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant in the 2023 general elections, stated this, at the weekend, when he stormed Jos, Plateau State, to canvas support from PDP national delegates.
He used the occasion to pick holes in Governor Simon Lalongâs leadership and state of development in his state, adding that he would support the PDP in state to take back the Government House at Little Rayfield, Jos.
âThe only project the ruling APC has offered the people of Plateau is banditry, killing of innocent citizens in guise of playing national politics. In Nigeria, all you hear is bandits killing and kidnapping, train and airport attacks everywhere, and the case of Plateau is more sympathetic. This must stop,â Wike said.
MEANWHILE, APC lawmaker representing Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency of Plateau State, Yusuf Gagdi, has called on the National Assembly to enact laws that will permit Nigerians to bear arms for self-defence.
Gagdi made the call in a chat with journalists on Friday night after visiting some communities in Kanam and Wase local councils, recently attacked by gunmen.
The bandits, penutimate Sunday, stormed some communities in Kanam and Wase, and killed 106 persons, injured scores and razed many houses.
According to Gagdi, legalising the bearing of arms would go a long way in addressing the spate of attacks and killings in communities. He, however, called for stiffer measures to regulate the use of the arms by the citizens.
âIf we want to curtail the spate of attacks in communities, we should make laws that will permit citizens to carry arms. If, for instance, those who attacked my people know that the locals also have arms, they wonât come, and even if they do, the casualty figure will not be this high.
âBut there must be regulation on the use of the arms; anyone who misuses it should be imprisoned or even sentenced to dead by hanging,â he stated.
The House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Navy said that prior to the attacks, Kanam used to be the safest and most peaceful area in Plateau.