Nigeria’s president vows retaliation after bandits kill 43 in marketplace

By Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu

KANO, Nigeria (AA) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday that his government will soon defeat the bandits operating in the country.

Buhari was reacting to the killing of at least 43 people at a marketplace in the Goronyo local government area of Sokoto state by bandits.

In a statement issued by his media aide Garba Shehu, Buhari said the bandits’ days were numbered because the military capabilities of the Nigerian Armed Forces were being boosted by the acquisition and deployment of advanced equipment.

“The clock of your ultimate destruction is ticking, as you will no longer have a place to hide,” he said.

“The bandits are living in the fool’s paradise of invincibility, but reality will soon dawn on them harder than ever before.”

Buhari said the bandits are currently under pressure because of the intense and sustained air and ground operations against them in their hideouts by Nigerian security forces.

“The cowardly attacks on innocent people by the bandits show a rearguard action of criminals under pressure. But they will have no place to hide, and our gallant security forces will not relent in the current offensive to defeat these callous enemies of humanity,” he added.

The president extended his sympathies to the families of the victims of the Goronyo attack and called on the people to continue to be patient as the military strategized on how to deliver a crushing blow to the bandits.

Traders and buyers at the Goronyo weekly market were among those killed in the attack.

Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal confirmed the attack and appealed for military deployment in the state.