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Sabon Birni Local Government Area Chairman Hashimu Dantudu said security in the Sokoto State council area is improving significantly, crediting a state-procured deployment of armoured vehicles with reducing attacks and boosting the presence of security personnel on the ground.
Dantudu made the comments Sunday in Tsamaye Village, Sabon Birni LGA, during a visit by a state government delegation led by State APC Leader Senator Aliyu Wamakko. The delegation traveled to the community to condole with residents over the death of the local government’s APC Chairman, Alhaji Amadu Malale.
“Cases of attacks have reduced tremendously since the deployment of the armoured vehicles in the area,” Dantudu said, adding that residents are now witnessing a stronger security presence than before. “We are indeed witnessing the presence of security personnel in our area more than before,” he said.
Dantudu commended Governor Ahmed Aliyu for procuring and deploying the vehicles, describing the move as a significant boost to the state’s broader campaign against banditry. He expressed optimism that sustained state government commitment to strengthening security would eventually bring the threat to an end, and pledged the local council’s continued cooperation with security agencies operating in the area.
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Sabon Birni is among several local government areas in Sokoto State that have faced persistent bandit attacks in recent years. The state government recently procured 62 armoured vehicles and 2,000 motorcycles for distribution to security agencies as part of an intensified operation against bandits and other criminals statewide.
Sokoto State sits within Nigeria’s North-West, a region that has experienced sustained banditry and kidnapping-for-ransom activity over the past decade, with armed groups operating from forested areas along state borders and frequently targeting rural farming communities, markets, and highways. Sabon Birni’s location along the border with Niger Republic has made it a particular focal point in the state’s security response, given the cross-border movement that has complicated efforts to track and confront armed groups operating in the area.
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The armoured vehicle and motorcycle procurement Dantudu referenced reflects a broader pattern among Nigerian state governments in high-risk security corridors, where subnational administrations have increasingly funded and supplied equipment directly to police, military, and vigilante units operating within their territories, supplementing federal security deployments that many state officials have described as insufficient given the scale of rural banditry across the North-West and North-Central regions. Motorcycles in particular have featured prominently in recent state-level security procurement drives, given their utility for rapid patrol response in terrain that armoured vehicles cannot easily access.
Dantudu’s remarks did not address the circumstances surrounding APC Chairman Amadu Malale’s death, nor did the statement specify whether the delegation’s condolence visit was connected to a security-related incident. It also did not disclose how many of the newly procured armoured vehicles or motorcycles have specifically been deployed to Sabon Birni, or provide comparative attack figures to substantiate the described reduction in incidents.
