THE pan-Northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has asked the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to declare parts of the country ravaged by bandits and insurgents a no-fly zone as done in the case of Zamfara State.
The President, following the kidnap and subsequent release of the 279 students of the Government Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata-Mafara Local Government Area by bandits, declared the state a no-fly zone and banned all mining activities in the state which had been ravaged by bandits over the years.
But the National Chairman of the ACF, Chief Audu Ogbe, in a statement, ewsmen by the National Publicity Secretary of the Forum, Emmanuel Yawe, in Kaduna on Wednesday said a similar ban be extended to other parts of the country ravaged by bandits and insurgents.
According to the chairman, the government should extend to states like Benue, Taraba and Borno where there are rumours that helicopters frequently drop arms for bandits and insurgents.
“We are also happy with the Federal Government’s decision to ban flights in the state. We also plead with the government to extend the ban to other states like Benue, Taraba, Borno where there are rumours that helicopters frequently drop arms for bandits and insurgents operating in these states,” Ogbe stressed.
PUNCH.