Umaru Danyaro, Chairman of Sabon Birni Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto, has said the state government should not be blamed for the escalation of banditry and killings of innocent citizens.

Danyaro said this when Aminu Tambuwal, the Governor of Sokoto, paid a condolence visit to the terrorised area after bandits burnt 23 passengers to death.

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Tambuwal donated N250,000 each to relatives of the victims of the Monday bandit attack during the visit.

“We’re grateful to you for the ninth condolence visit to this area since banditry and kidnapping escalated about a year ago,” Danyaro said. “However, what concerns security is not the state governor’s responsibility but that of the federal government.”

In a statement credited to the governor on his verified Facebook page, he said, “These disturbing kinds of things are happening here and across the nation”.

“Nonetheless, we will not rest on our oars in doing the best we can to roll back this unfortunate happening. We have been doing our best to support the security operatives in the state.”

On December 8, a lorry heading south was waylaid by a contingent of bandits with guns along the Garin Bawa area of Sabon Birni. Dozens of passengers in the lorry were burnt alive by terrorists loyal to Bello Turji, a terror kingpin in the state.

The passengers were “roasted in fire like barbeque”, spurring public outrage. Following the incident, enraged youths stormed the streets of Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina to protest the bloody attack on innocent citizens.

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With the hashtag “HumansRoastedLikeBarbeque”, social media users also joined the protesters to demand the security of lives and property of people in the region.

Sokoto, like other states in Nigeria’s northwest, has experienced repeated bandit attacks since Turji relocated to the state raising millions to procure ammunitions by commercialising terrorism.