Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, has called on the military to intensify its fight against banditry in the state.
Over the weeks, the military has coordinated different offensives against suspected bandits in the north-west, especially Zamfara and Sokoto states.
During a visit to Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, el-Rufai expressed concerns over dislodged bandits who might find their way into his state.
He also said banditry now threatens food production in the country as farmers are being affected.
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“The Sokoto story only hit the headlines just a few days ago, but in Zamfara, in Kaduna, in Niger, in Katsina, this banditry has become a northwestern scourge and we have been battling it with the support of the military; we are very grateful to the Nigerian air force, the Nigerian army and in our own particular case, even the navy has been holding fort Southern Kaduna,” he said.
“We’ve been dealing with this issue and our concern now is with the operations in Sokoto and Zamfara. Many of the bandits will move to Kaduna, this is part of the reasons I’m here, I’ll be meeting with the minister of defense and the service chiefs to try to get more military activities, some operations to be strengthened.
“I must say that they’ve been doing very well, they’ve supported us, but this banditry is a big problem. It’s going to affect agriculture unless it is dealt with and I believe that it will be dealt with. The chief of air staff has assured me that whatever that will need to be done to wipe out the bandits, to enable our farmers to go to farm as the rains advance, will be done. We are confident that things will get better.”
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The governor said it’s unfortunate that the same way Boko Haram has ravaged the north-east, the bandits are also becoming a serious problem in the north-west.
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