Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, has ordered security agencies to treat individuals acting as informants for bandits in the same way as the criminals themselves.

Naijaonpoint reports that Aliyu gave the directive during a condolence visit to Wurno and Rabah Local Government Areas, recently attacked by bandits.

He described such bandit informants as “unpatriotic citizens selling out their communities for peanuts,” and urged rural residents to report anyone suspected of aiding bandits.

Governor Aliyu also called on Islamic clerics to educate communities about the dangers of collusion during sermons and prayers.

The governor highlighted security measures already in place, including more than 170 patrol vehicles and motorcycles, an upward review of allowances for personnel deployed to volatile areas, and the establishment of the State Community Guard Corps.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents, including men, women, and children in Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State, recently staged a mass protest, blocking the Sokoto-Lagos trunk A highway to decry the spate of insecurity and bandit attacks in the state.

The protesters voiced that the deadly gangs were now in control of many local government areas of the state, leaving residents devastated, displaced, and increasingly hopeless.

The displaced residents, some barefoot and visibly traumatised, poured into Shagari town, the council headquarters, chanting slogans of frustration as they narrated their ordeal.

They expressed anger over relentless attacks that have crippled their communities and demanded urgent government action to stem the tide of killings and abductions.

According to them, the government has abandoned them to the mercy of bloodthirsty gangs, who roam their villages unhindered.