‘I apologise for the failure to protect you’ — el-Rufai begs victims of fresh attacks

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, has apologised to residents of the villages attacked in Igabi and Giwa local government areas of the state over the attacks that reportedly led to the deaths of more than 50 persons.

TheCable had earlier reported that el-Rufai was on his way to the villages over the latest attacks.

A local guard had told VOA Hausa that suspected bandits raided different villages on Sunday, killing the residents and setting their corpses on fire.

Accompanied by Ali Janga, the state commissioner of police, el-Rufai said his administration would never negotiate with bandits.

“If not for the security agencies prompt intervention they would have wiped out the entire villages,” NAN quoted el-Rufai as saying.

“I also came to apologise for failure to protect you fully, we are doing our best to minimise such incidents, you should continue to forgive us.

“But we are doing the best we can and we are hoping that this banditry issue will be addressed because security personnel are on ground to manage the situation.

“In Kaduna, we have vast land, if the security close one area they attack another area.”

The governor said it is the duty of his administration to “wipe out” the attackers.

“It is our duty to wipe them out, and until we send them to their maker, the security agencies are taking the war to the forest and we are eliminating them, ” he said.

“The security agencies are doing the best they can, but they find it difficult to get to remote areas in good time due to poor access roads while the natives also find it difficult to get to security personnel due to poor GSM network.

“But I am grateful to the air force, army, police and the DSS for being always prompt otherwise it would have been worse.”

El-Rufai urged the people to continue to be patient and vigilant and support the government and security agencies to win the war against the bandits.

On his part, Ibrahim Damu, district head of Karewa, appealed to the state government to intensify efforts in tackling security challenges in the area.