By Peace Udugba -The Daily Torch Media
Adamawa State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Leader Leneke, has said banditry and insurgent attacks across Northern Nigeria have been significantly reduced and are no longer occurring daily or weekly as they did in the past.
Leneke made the assertion on Tuesday while appearing on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, where he assessed the performance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration in Northern Nigeria, particularly in the areas of security, agriculture and infrastructure.
The commissioner, however, acknowledged that isolated security incidents still occur, citing a recent attack along the Adamawa-Borno border in which several people were reportedly killed.
He described the incident as unfortunate, saying the state government had believed it had moved beyond such attacks.
“About yesterday, we had some little security breach in Adamawa along the borderlines of one of our local government areas with Borno State. The insurgents encroached into some parts of some of our communities and quite a number of people lost their lives, unfortunately,” Leneke said.
“It is a very sad and painful situation because we thought for a while we had gone past this phase, this stage, because we’ve not been experiencing that.”
Despite the latest incident, Leneke said the overall security situation in Northern Nigeria had improved considerably compared with the period before the Tinubu administration.
He said the present administration inherited what he described as a severe security crisis involving kidnappers, insurgents, bandits, unknown gunmen and persistent farmers-herders clashes.
“In terms of security, before the coming of the present administration, you must accept and understand the present administration did not create the current security challenge and trouble that we face currently as a nation and particularly, Northern Nigeria. In fact, if we’re going to be truthful, they met a very dire situation on ground,” he said.
“It was a daily occurrence. You call them farmers-herders clashes and crises. It was a daily occurrence across the length and breadth of the North.”
Insurgency largely degraded
According to the commissioner, insurgency that was once concentrated largely in Borno, Yobe and parts of Adamawa had been substantially degraded under the current security architecture.
“When security problems started, it was at a point localised along the northeastern geopolitical region of the country, Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa, but the epicentre used to be Borno and Yobe and the northern little part of Adamawa State.
“But today, if you’re fair to this government, you can honestly say the insurgency has been largely degraded.”
Leneke said occasional attacks should not obscure what he described as a significant reduction in the frequency of violence.
“There might be isolated cases here and there, just like the one I mentioned, but they are no longer a daily occurrence. They are no longer a weekly occurrence, not even a monthly occurrence as the case may be,” he said.
Farmers-herders clashes reduced
The commissioner also claimed that the farmers-herders crisis, which had contributed to violence and displacement in several parts of Northern Nigeria, had been largely brought under control.
“The farmers-herders situational crisis that we’ve also experienced across the entire northern region is almost a thing of the past and I can broadly say 85 to 90 per cent of this crisis have been taken care of.
“Farmers can now go to farm, herders can now also rear their animals without the daily clashes that take place between them.”
Banditry in North-West
Leneke further said banditry in the North-West had been substantially degraded, although he acknowledged that the problem had not been completely eliminated.
He recalled a period when states such as Zamfara and Katsina faced persistent attacks and governments struggled to effectively confront armed groups.
“I’m not saying it has been totally resolved and taken care of but if we must be honest, this administration and its security architecture have done a very commendable and remarkable job in tackling the situation and degrading it to its barest minimum for now,” he said.
According to him, the improvement was also reflected in the ability of residents to travel on roads that were previously considered extremely dangerous.
“People can now ply some of these roads, unlike before. You can’t even think about plying these roads because you’re almost certain it is a death trap for you or a death wish if you decide to do that,” Leneke said.
He added: “There has been drastic improvement. There’s been tremendous improvement and credit must be given to this administration in that regard.”
Infrastructure, military presence
Leneke linked the reported security improvements to increased federal presence and infrastructure development across the region.
He cited ongoing federal road projects and other infrastructure initiatives as evidence of greater government attention to Northern Nigeria.
“I can also tell you the projects that are federally conceived and carried out are ongoing across the North. Superhighways are also being constructed across the North.
“If you’re talking about the Badagry-Sokoto, if you’re talking about the Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Kano, and all of those, in fairness to this government, credit must be given to the government that these developmental strides and efforts are taking place in Northern Nigeria.”
The commissioner also disclosed that the Federal Government had approved the establishment of about five Nigerian Army battalions across Adamawa State as part of efforts to strengthen security.
He said the military formations would be located in strategic areas of the state.
“In Adamawa State alone, the President has given the approval for the establishment of about five battalions of the Nigerian Army across the state, in Ganye, Luman, Madagali, Mubi, all across Adamawa State,” he disclosed.
While defending the Federal Government’s security record, Leneke acknowledged that recent attacks showed that the threat had not completely disappeared.
He said the Adamawa-Borno border incident was a reminder that security agencies must remain vigilant despite the improvements recorded.
His assessment comes amid continuing security challenges in parts of Northern Nigeria, where insurgent attacks, banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities remain a major concern for residents and authorities.
Leneke nevertheless maintained that the North had moved significantly away from the period when attacks were considered routine, insisting that the Tinubu administration deserved credit for what he described as a drastic improvement in the region’s security situation.
