Bandit tax in Zamfara, ghost town in Kwara are signs of state failure – ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed deep concern over the reported extortion of over N56 million from farmers in Zamfara State by armed groups as well as the chilling video of an entire village in Ifelodun Local Government of Kwara State, completely abandoned to bandits, Nigeria under President Tinubu and the APC is sliding into a dangerous new phase of state failure.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said a situation where farmers had to pay money to terrorists before they could gain access to their own farmlands, is not just a Zamfara tragedy, but a national warning. A situation where people had to abandon an entire town to bandits, in the very heart of the country, is not just a local challenge but an evidence of national surrender.

When armed gangs can collect N56 million from farmers for the “right” to plant food, the issue is no longer about insecurity. It is about criminal elements contesting the right to govern a part of Nigeria. When criminals can tax citizens at gunpoint, it means the state has surrendered its monopoly of force and state authority is in retreat.

We are dismayed that this could be happening in a country with one of the largest defence budgets in Africa, yet our farmers are left to bargain with warlords for their survival. We recall that in the same Zamfara state only a few days ago about 50 people were abducted in one swoop. Added to this is the eerie picture of an entire town where all the people, the young, the old and the infirm had to seek refuge elsewhere for fear of bandits attacks. There are other cases which shows a very alarming pattern suggesting that other parts of the country considered safe may not be so for long.

The pertinent question therefore is whether the Tinubu-led APC government is still in charge and can still be trusted to do its most fundamental duty, which is to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians.
We recall that in November 2014, President Bola Tinubu, leader of opposition party at the time, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over the Boko Haram Challenges in The North-East of the country. His words:
“If you control the armed forces and you are the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic, why should any part of this country be under occupation? And you give us excuses every day. In any civilized country Jonathan should have resigned.

Although the security situation that President Tinubu was using to campaign in 2014 had multiplied exponentially under his party and is currently enjoying great prosperity under his direct watch, no one is calling on him to resign.

The ADC does not want President Tinubu to resign. We only ask him to do his job. We also ask the pertinent question, why did the President think that the security situation in Rivers State warranted the declaration of state of emergency, but the one in Zamfara with industrial scale kidnapping and a direct challenge to the authority of the Nigerian State by way of bandit tax does not even deserve a direct comment from him?
We will like to urge President Tinubu to drop whatever else that pre-occupies him and direct his attention to Zamfara State and other parts of the country menaced by bandits.