TheCable

At least 50 members of the civilian joint task force (CJTF) were killed on Tuesday by bandits in Zamfara state.

Sanusi Rikiji, speaker of the state house assembly, made this known on Friday during a condolence visit to Kaura Namoda emirate.

The speaker attributed the incident to a confrontation between members of the CJTF and the bandits in a community in Kaura Namoda local government area of the state.

Rakiji, who led the state government delegation on the visit, decried the worsening security situation in the state.

“We were told that the members of civilian JTF had mobilised people from Sakajiki community in Kaura Namoda local government area and confronted the bandits in the forest, which led to the killing of over 50 persons, including members of CJTF,” he said.

“Their duty is to support security personnel to carry out operations, not to lead operations. Only security agents have the right to organise operation to confront bandits.”

The speaker described the move by the members of the CJTF to confront the bandits as unprofessional as they were not trained to do so.

“This is the directive from Governor Abdul’aziz Yari that CJTF members should not confront bandits again; let them cooperate with the security personnel,” Rakiji said.

“We have already received the list of the number of the deceased and other affected victims from the local government chairman, with the aim to assist them.

“The state government would provide assistance to the families of the deceased and other victims of the incident very soon.”