A major general, Jide Ogunlade, Operation Force Commander Hadarin Daji in Zamfara, verified that several villagers in the state who have been displaced by bandits are now returning home.
Mr Ogunlade gave the confirmation while discussing aspects of collaboration with reporters at Gusau’s Force Command Headquarters.
He said the growth followed the state-wide intensification of attempts by safety organizations against the bandits.
“We have now successfully disorganised the bandits and they can no longer stay comfortably in their hideouts because they know we can locate and strike them at any moment.
“Although there exists over 300 bandits camps in the bushes, we are doing our best to neutralize them and even when they try to get to any of the neighbouring states, they find it difficult to evade the security.
“This is why they now devised a method of using their informants to divert our attention through distress calls while the bandits go to the opposite direction to lay siege on innocent people.
“The bandits also easily attack villages situated close to the bushes and quickly run into the depth of the bushes, on this too we are working on the best approaches against their moves,” he assured.
However, the commandant, who expressed willingness to work with all types of voluntary security services, advised that if such partnership were abused and those volunteers crossed their boundaries, they would be dealt with.
He appealed to state reporters to collaborate with the procedure by disseminating credible and verified data so they could succeed.
The chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Zamfara State Council, Abdulrazak Kaura, ensured the commander of his members ‘ collaboration.
“As far as the theatre maintains free flow of information, there will be no need for us to be mischievous or go to press without verifying the report.”
The chairman criticized the way Air Force headquarters reports were issued by the operation’s air components.
He encouraged the force commander to discover methods to release reports from the state to the reporters, adding that it would achieve the anticipated publicity.
