Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmed el-Rufa’i, has disclosed that their plans to end banditry in the North are proving difficult due to the security system that governs the State.
He explained that the governors map out strategies to deal with banditry but the constraints on the federal sides sometimes slow them down in terms of implementation.
The governor made his submission when he appeared as a guest on a television programme, where he spoke on the security issues in the State and efforts being made in the war against banditry.
When quizzed about whether he felt hamstrung by the security architecture as it currently exists, he said, “Yes, it can be very frustrating sometimes because as State governor, I am supposed to be the chief security officer of my State, but as I have explained several times, the State governors control no security assets at all. These are federal security assets and while they collaborate with us to some extent, at the end of the day, they take their orders from Abuja”.
“There are some things that we want to be done but are not done. We have been meeting as governors of eight frontline states and we have very clear strategies and plans to end this banditry but the constraints on the federal sides sometimes slow us down. But we are working together more collaboratively.
“Right now, I think we have turned the corner. I think the issue of banditry in the North West is at a tipping point and very soon, we are going to see the end of it. The aggressive military and police operations across the air is dismembering them and I think we are coming to the end of it by the grace of God”, the governor further stated.
