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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, had separate audiences with Governors Aminu Masari of Katsina, Abdulahi Sule of Nasarawa and Darius Ishaku of Taraba states over security challenges bedeviling the region.
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, had on Monday night, met the president.
The four requested assistance to end insecurity rocking their various states.
Speaking to State House Correspondents in separate interviews after their meetings, Masari stressed the need for to collaboration to tackle security challenges in the North West.
He said if each state in the region has different policy, bandits and terrorists would always get away after committing their dastardly acts.
“I think what is most important for us to succeed in fighting these bandits is for all of us in the states, especially the North-western states, to take the pains and work together to make sure that we block all the loopholes
“But if one state has a policy and another has a different one, certainly they (bandits) will always be moving from one state to another. Luckily enough, we are already working closely with states that border us, like Nasarawa and Niger, to bring the problem to a manageable and tolerable level,” Masari, who he led a delegation of elders to Abuja, said.
On the recent killing of one of his commissioners, the Masari said it had nothing to do with banditry but a case of assassination.
He assured the family of the deceased and citizens of the state that security agents were working hard to unravel the murder.
However, Masari said with the measures put in place by security agencies against banditry, there was an improvement.
“We cannot say normalcy has returned but there is improvement. When we had a comparative analysis before the issuance of the security containment order, what we saw in three months when we compared was a drastic drop of over 100 percent in terms of the rate of kidnappings, killings and their associated crimes with banditry. So, the incident we had last week had nothing to do with banditry,” he stressed.
Governor Sule said he met the president to express his appreciation for the support being received by his state over security.
“You must have heard that there were several joint operations of the special forces; the military, the police, together with vigilante, the Air Force and the Navy in the two local government areas bordering Abuja and as a result, the various operations have been very successful.
“Recently, some of our schools were being targeted, we privately approached and actions were taken and then we thank almighty God that we’ve been able to dislodge those ones.”
On Boko Haram insurgents that had gathered in parts of the state, he said they had now been dispersed.
“Those are the ones I have mentioned; that mostly they had been dislodged because of the joint operations, even from the support we get from my colleague in Kogi State. So, constantly, we share information with Kogi State as well as Benue and a lot of efforts have been put into that. So far, so good.”
However, Sule affirmed that despite efforts put in, Nasarawa State was not free from insecurity.
“Well, nowhere in the world is completely safe but to a certain extent, we can say we are. If you compare us with so many parts of the country, you can consider Nasarawa as a very safe place today,” Governor Sule declared.
He stated that he briefed President Buhari on the recent attack on Manga community in Takum Local Government Area by Ambazonia separatists from southern Cameroon. The invasion led to the sacking of residents of Manga village, which is said to be 20 kilometres from Kashimbilla Dam.
Ishiaku said he requested assistance from the Federal Government to tackle security and other developmental issues in the state.
“First is that I came to see Mr. President on security issues. If you remember, some weeks back, there was an attack in Taraba State, specifically, at Manga, which has boundary with Cameroon, it was invaded by the Cameroonian Ambazonia separatists. They killed 11 people, including the chief of the small town. And I have not been able to see Mr. President because of his busy schedule and his travels. So, I’m fortunate today to have an appointment with him, to brief about what transpired and the need to give us some assistance in that axis. It was a very usual discussion and I am happy.”
Asked if he was satisfied with the way the Federal Government was handling the situation and confident there would not be a repeat of the attack, he said: “That’s why I’m here to see Mr. President because he alone can give the order for us to strengthen our border by sending security men along the border. Once we have that, I think we will secure that border. Incidentally, we have about the longest border with Cameroon. So there is absolute need to secure and strengthen it. And this particular area of Manga is by the lakeshore. Because of the damming of Kasimila, the water has gone almost like six kilometers into Cameroon. So, people now find it easy just to come in and go out.
“So, we may also need a naval base to be able to secure, police and monitor the people that go in and out as well as an immigration posts. All these are requests and I think Mr. President has assured me that he will do something about it, I’m very hopeful.”
He said he also sought President Buhari’s intervention in getting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release the a loans that have been approved but was yet to get to the state.
