Report reaching on Monday, indicates that boko haram terrorists have taken over some communities in Niger State, coercing residents of Shiroro Local Government Area to marry off their daughters at the age of 12 years and above.
Residents of the affected communities said that the insurgents have also ordered them not to recognise constituted authority, that is, the State Government led by Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello.
A resident of the area, and co-Convener of Concerned Shiroro Youths, Bello Ibrahim, stated: “At a time, they were in Kawure, the village of a former Senator Representing Niger East, David Umaru.
“But there was operation to dislodge them by the Joint Military Task Force.
“Fortunately, they were dispatched, but after a while, since a Military Base is not stationed there, they reconvened.
“So now, they are not only in Kawure, they have also extended their tentacles to communities like Kuregbe, Awulo, and a host of other communities.
“In Awulo and Kuregbe communities, they assembled the locals, both Muslims and Christians, and gave them a marching order, that any girl that is 12 years old should be married off.
“There is no any form of Law in the area, aside boko haram’s. If locals have any feud, either family issue or community problem, they report to them for resolution.
“No any case should be reported to Police or court or any constituted authority for resolution.”
Another resident said that the criminals operate freely.
He disclosed: “They are operating freely, and mingling freely with the villagers.
“They have become constituted authority in those villages. And Kaure, Awulo, and Kuregbe, are their operational grounds. They coerce locals to obey them as their authority.
“In the entire Chukuba and Kuregbe Ward, it is boko haram elements that are operating there, not bandits, that we know.”
The Chairman of Shiroro Local Government Area, Suleiman Chukuba, confirmed the influx of boko haram elements, saying: “On the issue of influx of boko haram in Shiroro, only four Wards have been affected.”
He maintained that the residents were made to believe that they were boko haram elements, because of their mode of preaching.
“They told villagers that they have money to help them, and that they have guns to give them to fight the government. And that is the same doctrine we know boko haram elements promote.”