Zamfara to introduce land, house numbering to check insecurity

In order to monitor movements of aliens in Zamfara State, the government has taken to identifying owners of land and houses to be able to narrow the security breaches in the state.

The state government said it will be introducing numbering of lands and houses in the state as part of measures to address security challenges in the state.

Speaking on the new policy, the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Bello Dankande, stated this in Gusau on Friday during a security meeting with Village Heads.

The Commissioner who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Alhaji Haruna Sallau, said his ministry was working with the Sate Ministry of Lands and Housing to come up with a policy on the issue. He said the policy would help government in tracing hideout of criminals, thus checking criminal activities in the state.

According to him, “We learned that some of these criminals are living in our communities. Some of our people give them houses to rent, while some sell lands and houses to them to serve as their hideouts. 

This policy will help us know the number of such houses and lands, as well as their owners, across the state,” he said. He said the purpose of the meeting with traditional rulers was to exchange ideas on how to address the security challenges in the state. 

Earlier, the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello, had described the meeting as timely and a welcome development. Bello noted that traditional rulers, as fathers in the society, had greater role to play in addressing challenges in the society. He said Zamfara was known to be one of the most peaceful states in the country in the past, but regretted that the situation had now changed.

“The most unfortunate thing is that some ward and village heads are supporting criminals in their areas; some are even giving information about their people to kidnappers and other criminals. This is very regrettable and disheartening,” he said, warning that any of them caught in the act would face the full wrath of the law.