North-West Governors Discuss Ways To End Banditry

Governors of the North-West zone on Thursday discuss ways to end the increased rate of banditry and other security challenges facing the region.

The Katsina State Governor and Chairman of the Northwest Governors Forum, Aminu Bello Masari, made this known in a tweet via his Twitter handle.

Masari, who hosted the North West governors in his office in Katsina, expressed confidence that the insecurity being faced by the region will be curbed very soon.

He said that they had fruitful discussions and deliberations on the best ways they believed insecurity being faced in the states could be subdued and that these deliberations will according to him be forwarded to appropriate quarters for further action.

“I hosted Governors of the North-West zone and that of Niger state.

“We had fruitful discussions and deliberations on the best ways we believe the insecurity being faced in the states will be subdued

“These deliberations will be forwarded to appropriate quarters for further action”.

Recall that Masari had said that Nigeria’s resources have made the country economically attractive to kidnappers.

He made this known while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

He however claimed that Nigeria’s security situation has improved under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Masari said: “Look at 2015 for instance, you cannot go to the church, you cannot go to the mosque. If I travel from Kaduna to Abuja, it will take five hours and three of those hours are for checkpoints. There are at least 30 checkpoints along the highway.

“Is the situation the same today? It is not. Yes, there are kidnappers, there are bandits around but look at the whole world and look at the position of Nigeria in the Sahelian region. Are we not the richest? So, the attraction even for kidnappers to come to Nigeria is there. If you kidnap somebody in Mali, where are you going to get thousands? If I kidnap you in Nigeria, I get millions. So, all of us will have to rise to the occasion.

“When we started in 2015 in the North-West, it was cattle-rustling. Gradually, it now developed into banditry, rape, kidnappings. When all that the bandits can steal from the villagers along the fringes finished, they moved to the rustling of goats, sheep, and even chicken.

“In my state, the bandits kidnapped four relatives of very senior government officials. When they cannot get anything to sustain themselves, they resort to high-profile kidnappings for money in cities and towns. That is something we must work hard to stop.