Why There is Recent Reduction In Banditry – Ex-DSS Director

Mike Ejiofor, A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) has revealed the reason for the recent reduction in cases of banditry across the country.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television‘s programme ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Monday, Ejiofor said the reduction in the activities of bandits could be traced to Ramadan currently being observed by Muslims across the country.

Ejiofor said most of the bandits are religious people who are also observing Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

The former DSS official said the bandits are currently fasting, prayer, and reflecting, hence the reduction in cases of kidnapping, cattle rustling, and other heinous crimes.

He said: “banditry is not coming down. There’s a lull, especially in the North-West; you know we are observing fasting now. So that’s responsible for what we think is a lull in the issues of banditry, especially in the North-West where it is very prevalent.

“Some of them pray too, they are religious people. They don’t come from the sky. At times, they also want to pray to God. Even an armed robber will pray to God to save him from his operations.”

Speaking further, Ejiofor warned that the 2023 general elections would not take place if the worsening security situation in the country continues.

He asked the Federal Government to urgently tackle insecurity head-on in order to avert crisis and anarchy in the country before the forthcoming elections.

He said, “If we don’t get these things right before 2023 elections, if we don’t get these things sorted out the various security challenges in the various geopolitical zones, I can assure you that there won’t be elections.”

“There will be a crisis in this country, there will be anarchy. We need to sort out this thing before 2023.

“Let us talk about this country before talking about elections. If we continue like this, there won’t be elections in 2023 because of series of agitations.”