Amid growing insecurity in different parts of the country, Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, has urged residents to defend themselves against persistent bandit attacks.

He insisted that his administration would neither negotiate with nor pay ransom to criminals under any circumstances.

Bago made the declaration during a visit to the Rijau and Magama local government areas, where several communities were recently attacked by bandits operating from the Kontagora axis.

The governor said the State has reached a critical stage that demands collective action, warning that ransom payments would only embolden the criminals and turn kidnapping into a profitable venture.

“I will not negotiate with bandits. I will not pay ransom.

“The moment we start paying, they will open shop on our heads and continue kidnapping people,” he said.

“The situation has reached a state of war that requires collective resistance. We are surrounded by enemies, but we will not give up.

“The constitution gives us the right to defend our lives and property, and we will do just that,” the governor added.

Describing the recurring attacks and displacement of residents as “embarrassing and unacceptable,” Bago announced plans to recruit and train 10,000 personnel into the state’s joint task force to strengthen community security and restore peace.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso, the governor also announced a total ban on all mining activities across Zone C of the state.

The affected local government areas include Magama, Kontagora, Rijau, Wushishi, Mariga, Borgu, Mashegu, and Agwara.

Bago explained that illegal mining had become a major driver of insecurity in the zone, noting that many miners had unrestricted access to forest areas considered unsafe for residents.

“It is suspicious that miners can enter the forests freely, yet the bandits don’t touch them. I have ordered the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to arrest anyone caught engaging in mining activities,” he said.

Governor Bago also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ending the cycle of violence and restoring lasting peace throughout the state.

The Nigeria Police have reportedly arrested human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.

Sowore was taken into custody at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

This was revealed in a post on X by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who accused the police and President Bola Tinubu’s administration of undermining Nigeria’s judicial system.

He wrote: “The arrest of Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja moments ago is preposterous.

“The police and the Tinubu regime are making a mockery of our judicial system.He should be freed immediately. Stop the shenanigans.”

Sowore had earlier posted on Facebook that he was with Kanu Agabi, the lead lawyer for Nnamdi Kanu, at the Federal High Court.

According to him, Agabi disclosed that his team would be withdrawing from the case, leaving Kanu to continue his trial without representation.

A notable rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has insisted that a thorough process for the selection of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will go a long way to make the body free from external control.

Falana said that advertising the vacant positions of members of the electoral commission and resident electoral commissioners, as recommended by the Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais panel in 2008, would guarantee the independence of INEC.

According to him, such a process was already in place in African countries.

“What other countries in Africa have done – Lesotho, Botswana, and the rest of them – is to put in place a mechanism whereby vacant positions in the electoral bodies are advertised.

“And this was the recommendation of the Uwais Panel as far back as 2008, that in choosing members of the electoral commission and resident electoral commissioners, we should advertise the positions,” the lawyer said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

“Right now, such an advert has just been published in Lesotho, an African country, so that those who believe they are credible will conduct good elections, men and women of character and integrity will apply.

“Members of the public will be given the opportunity to object to any of them who are not qualified morally or otherwise. And then the names are shortlisted, and the best three are sent to the National Assembly,” he explained.

“The Uwais Panel had recommended that the National Judicial Council be the body that will scrutinise the candidates and recommend the best three.

“So the President will simply take the names to the National Assembly for the legislators to choose from the list.

“This goes a long way to make the body free from control,” the SAN added.

Falana’s position came amid concerns over the ability of INEC to conduct transparent and fair elections without interference.

Last Thursday, the Senate has confirmed a Law professor, Joash Amupitan, as the new Chairman of the INEC after screening him at the upper chamber.

The 58-year-old academic was nominated by President Bola Tinubu earlier and received formal endorsement from the National Council of State.

When sworn in, Amupitan will become the sixth substantive Chairman of INEC, succeeding Mahmood Yakubu, who has officially concluded his tenure.