Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has lamented the upsurge in activities of bandits in some local government areas of the state, describing it as a very worrisome development.
Addressing a meeting with top government officials, including some commissioners and local government chairmen and officials at Government House, Bauchi, Governor Mohammed said it was unfortunate that the situation was deteriorating.
He said if there was insecurity in the state, there would be problems, noting that a majority of the people were in the rural areas.
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He declared that there were a lot of incidences of connivance between local government officials, even state ministry officials and traditional institutions with the bandits to shortchange the people at the local level.
The governor said, ‘Recently, we are experiencing a surge in terms of activities of some miscreants and terrorists, especially bandits that are going around some local governments in the state.’
‘They have abducted a lot of people and there has been some loss of life and property and of course our security agencies have been doing very well.’
‘These local governments are Toro, Dass, Alkaleri, Ningi Local Government and to some extent Tafawa Balewa and Ganjuwa Local Governments.’
‘This is a very worrisome development because a majority of our people live in the rural areas. And of course, if there’s insecurity there, then we are going to have problems.’
While taking a swipe at local government chairmen in the state for their inability to hold security meetings in their domains, Mohammed said the state government had been lending the council bosses support to run their security challenges.
He noted that instead of engaging their respective communities as well as working with the traditional institutions in their domains, everybody was looking up to the state government and the Federal Government.
‘The chairmen of the local governments are the chief executives in that respective local governments. This insecurity, it will appear we have told them to be holding weekly meetings with their security agencies in their local governments, but they are not doing that.’
‘If they are doing that, it has not been brought to my knowledge and I said when I met with you that I had been meeting with security agencies in the security council, you should also do that.’
‘We have been lending you support to run your security challenges. You are supposed to work with the district heads, sometimes the emirs, the village heads, the vigilante and the security agencies in your local governments but you are not doing that.’
‘It is very unfortunate that the situation is deteriorating and everybody is looking up to the governor or the Federal Government.’
‘The community issue, community engagement is the most important thing in this, most especially when there is a lot of incidence of connivance between local government officials, even state ministry officials and traditional institutions with the bandits to shortchange our people at the local level. This is unacceptable, we will no longer tolerate this,’ Governor Mohammed declared.
While warning that he will no longer allow government officials to shortchange the people, the governor informed that he always got reports of happenings from the Department of State Service (DSS).
‘There is nothing that is happening that we are not getting a report from the DSS. It is either you are nonchalant or sometimes even forestry officers and those ministries responsible for settlement of forest reserve and so on.’
‘They connive, I am letting you know that from today, whoever connives and shortchange them will face the music. We are not going to allow this to continue.’
The governor asserted that nobody would come from outside to secure the state for its people, adding that insecurity does not happen in a vacuum.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK