The lawmaker representing Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency of Plateau State in the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi, has stated that farmlands have become a safe haven for bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals.

Naijaonpoint reports that Gagdi made this disclosure on Tuesday while responding to questions in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

The lawmaker said that most attacks on the state are coordinated from neighbouring states.

He said, “The report is right to say that some of those attacks are coordinated from the neighbouring state.

“The forest reserve situated around the state’s boundary is the place where those bandits from Northwest and Northeast, particularly from Zamfara axis, have completely relocated to in order to carry out their attacks.

“Farmers are not allowed to farm in that area for the fact that it’s reserved. So it has become a safe haven for bandits, kidnappers and other criminals.

“So if those criminals are in the game reserve, particularly the one which is situated along the Taraba boundary, they plan and coordinate attacks from there on civilians.”

Meanwhile, a notorious bandit leader, Kachalla Ummaru, has cautioned security agencies and the government against relying solely on force in tackling insecurity, warning that killings only escalate the crisis.

Ummaru spoke on Saturday during peace talks between bandit groups and community leaders in Matazu Local Government Area of Katsina State.

In a video shared by counter-insurgency publication Zagazola Makama, Ummaru said, “If today you kill 10 bandits, tomorrow you’ll see 20… you kill 20, another 30 will rise both in our bushes and villages.”