Professor Magaji Garba, the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University (FUGUS) Gusau, in Zamfara State, has revealed that armed bandits operating in the northwest geopolitical zone of the country have killed over 30,000 and rendered more than 3million people homeless.
The VC disclosed this during the 1st National Conference on armed banditry and national security in Nigeria held, Tuesday in Gusau the state capital.
According to him, statistics have indicated how banditry and terror attacks affected the entire north in particular and country in general.
The national conference, which was organized by Department of Political science Federal University Gusau, had the theme “Armed Banditry and National Security in Nigeria, Issues, Perspective and the Way Forward”.
The Vice-Chancellor, who was represented by the Vice-Chancellor Administration, revealed that the problems associated with banditry had left many people homeless, jobless, while many have been killed.
“Banditry has killed more than 30,000 people while over three million people were said to have been displaced in the north and country at large as a result of the terror attacks.”
He appealed to the participants to consider the conference as an avenue of learning, stressing that the conference would go a long way in reducing the menace.
Earlier, the Head of Department of Political Science at the FUGUS, Dr Abdulrahaman Adamu, noted that the conference was initiated following the worsening security situation of the country.
However, Professor Yahaya T. Baba of the Usman Danfodio University Sokoto, who doubles as Secretary Association of Political Science in the northwest, explained that banditry was an age-long neglected issue, pointing out that much needed to be done to curtail the teething problem.