By Taiye Hassan

Senator Shehu Sani , has launched a non kinetic approach to combat the insecurities in the Northern parts of Nigeria.

The former law market who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, in the 9th Assembly presented the options on Thursday at the Mamam Vatsa writers village, during the presentation of his book ” The Village and the Vigilante” and ” The Perilous Path to Europe: the Sahara Odessey”, to the diplomatic Community in Nigeria.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony , the renown human rights activist said that “:among all the problems we face as a nation, as a people, today in Nigeria is the problem of insecurity and the japa syndrome, an acronym for the migration of Nigerians to Europe in search of greener pastures.

According to Shehu ” the one that seriously challenges our lives, our existence and our survival,
is the problems of insecurity.
We have bandits in the northwestern part of Nigeria and terrorists in the northern part of Nigeria’

“These terrorists are named Iswap, Boko haram, Ansaru, Mahmudawa, Lakurawa,
or whatever denomination they call themselves”
Continued he said that ‘ in the North West, it’s been banditry.
now these criminals kill, kidnap, and extort money as ransom from innocent people”
“They have razed down schools,
razed down villages.
molested women.
and made life a living hell for people”

“So the idea of writing a play, which I titled The Village and the Vigilante,
is to encourage people, to inspire people to stand up in defense of their ancestral land”

“in the face of the inability of the state to provide security and protection for them.
This stage play is a literary intervention
sends a strong message to our people
that our security lies on our hands
where there is apparent failure on the side of the state.”

“In the last 15 years, the northern part of the country has come under sustained attacks by bandits and terrorists.
They have displaced millions of people.
And they have slaughtered farmers,
slaughtered commuters,
and killed traditional rulers,
and killed students
and even journalists lost their lives.
So this idea of staging a play is to reach out to our people in rural areas and communities
have been infested by bandits and terrorists to give them hope that this is a challenge of our time”

Against the renew call on the United States to fight the menace in Nigeria, the one time Lawmaker said
” No foreign power can free us from our own problem.
We should be able to do it ourselves.
If there is any challenge, we should be able to do it ourselves.
If there is any challenge, we should be able to do it ourselves.
If there is any challenge, we should be able to do it ourselves.
This is the idea behind this play and the issue of the book on the Sahara Odyssey is a documentation of historical facts.
how our young people risk their lives migrating out of their country falling into the hands of
human traffickers where they pass through the sahara desert en route to europe in that book”
“we have been able to do a lot of research how human traffickers lure their victims with a promise of
a paradise in europe and this these traffic victims end up as slaves in libya they face
racial discrimination sometimes they are even used as drug traffickers and armed smugglers
and when they are able to cross libya you find them in boats rickety boots on their way to europe
many people have died women
children and the aged on their way to europe and it’s not only about nigeria it’s about ghana it’s
about all of west africa and east africa so this book is sending a strong message to our leaders in
the african continent that they need to wake up to this reality they need to provide opportunities
for our young people at home to stay back and do what is necessary to better their lives and it’s
also a message to our young people
that there is no paradise and there is no green pasture in europe
the money they use to go to europe is money they can use to start up businesses here
so what do you gain by selling your father’s lands raising up to 20 to 30 thousand dollars
and going to europe to to be a cleaner or a prostitute on the street so that is the idea
behind this book i’ve written a number of books and we are going to stage play them here
every month from now up to the end of the year so this is one in a series of place that will be
staged here and in other parts of the country this village and the vigilante will be taken to the
states of Zamfara, Niger , kasina, kebbi and sokoto where banditry has become so chronic and have
been escalated to the worst level in the country and in the north eastern part of the country we’re
also so this book is telling is sending a message to our people that the problem of banditry and
terrorism are the challenges of our era challenges from our time as a people and challenges of our
civilization and it behoves on us to stand up and fight even if it only involves making sure
that the informants in villages who are feeding these bandits and terrorists with information
will be dealt with
so that is the message and the inspiration for this book
It’s not bad news, but there is a way for security.
There are a lot of tough moments that persist, as far as the state actors, politicians, security.
Awesome!
What is this?
There are a lot of questions we have not been able to ask ourselves or give answers to.
First of all is that these kidnappers use SIM cards and use phones.
And in a nation that has spent billions registering SIM cards,
I wonder how bandits will use phones and extort millions from their victims without the authorities arresting them.
And I wonder how a huge sum of money will be taken to those criminals in our hinterlands without them being reached out to.
So we have seen how some governments have tried to negotiate and dialogue with these bandits.
But you can’t trust a criminal who has been used to killing people, sucking the blood and molesting women.
You can’t trust such kind of persons.
We need to step up our firepower.
And annihilate these bandits.
And one of the things we need to do is to make sure that our people are in line with us as a people.
Because the locals are the ones that have the information.
And if there is any compromise, it will come from the locals.
And then our security agencies”
Short of calling for the investigation of the security agencies Shehu lamented that
“In the last 15 years, billions and billions of taxpayers’ money have been paid,
have been given to our security agencies to purchase arms and ammunition.
And they have not been able to defeat these terrorists.
So I feel that something is wrong somewhere.
And it is not wrong to say that there is collaboration.
And there is failure.
And also there is conspiracy”