Kaduna: Telecoms shutdown has yielded benefits in fight against insecurity

Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna commissioner for internal security and home affairs, says the shutdown of telecommunication services in parts of the state has helped in the fight against insecurity.

Aruwan said this on Thursday at a two-day workshop on public-private dialogue on education and insecurity.

The workshop was held in Zaria and organised by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) in collaboration with the Kaduna basic education accountability mechanism (KADBEAM).

Earlier, the Kaduna government had directed the shutdown of telecommunications services in Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Igabi and Kajuru LGAs as part of efforts to tackle insecurity.

Speaking on the development, Aruwan said the decision to shut down network services is to boost the state’s efforts to address security challenges.

“In the beginning, we made it clear that the hard situation we found ourselves demanded that we take hard decisions,” he said.

“I don’t want to go into details but what I want people to know that the advantages of the shutdown surpasses the disadvantages and we are making progress.

“We didn’t just make the decision for fun as the situation we have found ourselves is a situation that is tormenting all of us.

“The situation that time was totally unacceptable, but we want to assure you that we are making progress.”

The commissioner urged residents to be patient, adding that the decision is in the best interest of the people.