Some residents of Garaku in Nasarawa State have called for the establishment of a military base to curb incessant kidnappings and armed robbery along Keffi/Garaku/Akwanga road.

They said that the establishment of a military base along the route would help curtail the activities of criminals and criminality in the area.

Some of the residents, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Garaku, also called on the state government and security agencies to provide 24 hours surveillance across the rural areas in order to tackle the insecurity.

Mr John Andrew, a resident of Garaku, said that the spate of insecurity in parts of the state had become worrisome hence the need for the federal government to establish a permanent military base along the Keffi-Akwanga highway.

He said that there was need to beef up security and ensure 24 hours police patrol along the roads in order to achieve peace in the area and the state at large.

“The incessant armed robbery attacks, kidnappings in communities especially along Keffi/Akwanga road had become a serious concern not only to the residents of this area but to the entire state.

“Just yesterday, we heard that kidnappers attacked some journalists, kidnapping the wife of the Nasarawa State Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, among others, that are also kidnapped.

“It is in view of this that I want to urge government to establish the military base to curtail these activities,’’ he said.

He also called on the people of the area to be security conscious and to report any suspicious movement of persons or groups to appropriate authorities for necessary action.

Another resident, Mrs Grace Dauda, also said: “Insecurity is a treat not only to the health of the women but it is also a threat to the health of the entire community and the state at large.”

“The activities of armed robbers and kidnappers have created fear in people especially women because some of the kidnappers and armed robbers usually rape their female victims.

“Beefing up security along this road will not only help in curtailing the activities of armed robbers but will also help in checking the influx of criminal elements who will want to disguise as good people in the area,” he said.

She said that no nation or society could develop with high rate of crime, rancour and confusion, adding that the security challenges facing the state and some parts of the country had already affected the lives and socio-economic development of the country negatively.

Malam Abubakar Isah, another resident, said that the insecurity in the state was not only embarrassing but unfortunate and uncalled for, hence the need for government to beef up security in the state.

He condemned the attack and kidnapping of a journalist’s wife among others along the Garaku/Gudi road on March 27.

NAN recalls that on March 27, unidentified gunmen allegedly attacked Suleiman Abubakar, Chairman of the Correspondents’ chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Nasarawa State and abducted his wife, Yahanasu Abubakar.

Suleiman said that the incident happened at about 7 p.m. along Gudi-Garaku road in Akwanga Local Government Area of the state.

According to Suleiman, the gunmen shot at the union bus they were travelling in from Keffi, where his wife went to register at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp.

He said the bus ran into a ditch after being shot at while the gunmen swopped on them, took his wife, the wife of a former state assembly member, whom they gave a lift as well as two other women from another vehicle during the attack.

Meanwhile, ASP Samaila Usman, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, said the command had mobilised officers to the area to search and rescue the abducted women.