Nigeria’s former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), says the military must put an end to the wanton loss of lives and properties brought about by banditry “as soon as possible”.

Danjuma expressed his concerns on Tuesday in Abuja, during the presentation of a book titled, ‘Big Boots: Lessons From My Military Service’, authored by Maj Gen Solomon Udounwa (retd).

Addressing the military echelon at the event, Danjuma said it was the avowed duty of serving officers to end the menace of banditry and senseless killings by bandits running riot across the country.

He said: “We must end the banditry and the killings that are going on in our country as soon as possible.

“The responsibilities are on your shoulders, those of you who are still servicing. No excuses, absolutely no excuses. God bless you. God bless our country.”

Responding, the Chief of Defence Staff said the Armed Forces won’t be deterred by the challenges confronting them in the fight against banditry and terrorism.

He assured that the military would not fail but bring the bandits under control.

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“The Armed Forces of Nigeria is willing, dedicated and committed to ensuring that we restore peace and security in our own dear country.

“We shall not be deterred. I want to assure you that we have learnt so much from your records. We cannot afford to fail and we will not fail,” Gen Musa told TY Danjuma.

A recent report by security intel gathering firm SBM Intelligence showed that Nigerians paid ₦1.04bn as ransom to kidnappers in the last year.

The firm said its research found that within the period under review, no fewer than 7,568 people were abducted in 1,130 incidents across the country.

“In that same period, kidnappers demanded at least the sum of ₦10,995,090,000 (approximately $6,871,931) as ransom but received ₦1,048,110,000, a mere 9.5% of the money demanded, indicating that kidnappers have become less targeted in their victimology.

“Of the 1,130 reported kidnapping cases, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina have the highest numbers of incidents and victims. Zamfara recorded 132 incidents with 1,639 victims, Kaduna had 113 incidents with 1,113 victims, and Katsina reported 119 incidents with 887 victims,” the report stated.

The firm said on average, someone is killed each time there is an attempted kidnap.