The Kebbi Government yesterday debunked the reports that bandits had taken control of some villages in the northern parts of the state.

Addressing a news conference, Deputy Governor Umar AbubakarTafida said: “There is no single village, in the whole of Kebbi State, where bandits are in charge of Sharia courts or have appointed village heads of their choice.

“The report is false, with no iota of truth; this is just the imagination of writers of such online news. “We do not have a bandit base or camp in Kebbi. These marauders infiltrated from neighbouring states, and from Niger Republic to Kebbi through their informants to strike and retreat.”

Abubakar-Tafida promised that the state government had put in place incisive and effective strategies to put an end to the acts of banditry.