The Senate on Wednesday sounded a fresh alarm over the deteriorating security situation in Katsina State following coordinated bandit attacks that claimed at least 35 lives within 24 hours, demanding urgent military action, improved policing capacity and immediate humanitarian support for affected communities.

The upper chamber’s resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance arising from the recent ambush of operatives of the Nigeria Police Mobile Force in Bakori Local Government Area, where three policemen were killed and two others critically injured in broad daylight.

Leading the debate, the sponsor of the motion, Senator Mohammed Dandutse, described the attacks as brazen and alarming, noting that the frequency and scale of violence had reached an intolerable level.

He disclosed that as of Tuesday, February 3, 2026, no fewer than 35 people had been killed in coordinated assaults across several local government areas of the state.

According to him, 24 persons were murdered in Faskari Local Government Area, eight in Dandume, two in Funtua and one in Kankara, all within a single day, underscoring what he described as a dangerous escalation in bandit activities.

Dandutse warned that the persistent attacks on rural communities were crippling agricultural activities in Katsina, with over 50,000 farmlands reportedly abandoned due to fear and insecurity.

He said the development posed a serious threat to food security, livelihoods and the local economy, given the state’s strategic role in national agricultural production.

He recalled that Governor Dikko Radda had earlier led a delegation of elders from the Funtua Zone to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to brief him on the worsening security situation.

During the visit, the president reportedly pledged to establish a military barracks in the zone, particularly around Malumfashi, as a decisive step to curb banditry.

The senator expressed concern that criminal gangs continued to exploit porous corridors linking Katsina with parts of Kaduna and Zamfara States, including forest routes around Machika and Kankara, stressing the urgent need for stronger interstate security coordination and sustained military presence.

He cautioned that failure to act decisively could result in mass displacement of rural populations, the collapse of farming communities and long-term psychological trauma for women, children and other vulnerable groups.

Contributing to the debate, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, alongside several other lawmakers, commended the military and security agencies for their ongoing efforts but insisted that the situation demanded greater force, enhanced surveillance technology and intelligence-driven operations to dismantle bandit networks.

Many senators described the affected areas as part of Nigeria’s agricultural heartland, rich in food crops and industrial raw materials such as cotton, warning that prolonged insecurity there constituted a national economic risk.

In his contribution, Senator Aliyu Wadada cautioned against negotiating with bandits, arguing that such engagements often emboldened criminal elements rather than delivering lasting peace.

Following deliberations, the Senate unanimously resolved to ask President Tinubu to immediately implement his pledge to establish a military barracks in the affected Katsina zone.

It also directed the Inspector-General of Police to equip the newly established police squadron in the area with at least three Armoured Personnel Carriers to strengthen intelligence-led operations, forest combing, cross-border collaboration and community-based intelligence gathering.

The Senate further called on security agencies to sustain coordinated operations until criminal elements are completely flushed out of Katsina and neighbouring hotspots, while mandating the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and the National Emergency Management Agency to provide immediate relief to affected and traumatised families.

In honour of the victims, the Senate observed a one-minute silence and urged residents to remain united, vigilant and supportive of security efforts, while resisting internal collaborators who undermine national security. (THISDAY)

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