..State govt. closes 69 health care facilities
Katsina Emirate Council has announced the suspension of durbar during the Eid-el-Kabir festivity scheduled to hold on Saturday.
The suspension was announced in an issued press statement yesterday in Katsina, by the Council’s Assistant Secretary, Sule Mamman-Dee, who said that the suspension was due to the current security situation in the State.
According to Mamman-Dee, the Emir, AbdulMumini Kabir-Usman, expressed deep concern over the security situation in parts of the emirate adding that he would only attend the Eid prayers on Saturday. He further stated that the Emir advised Muslims to continue to pray for the return of peace to the state and country in general.
The Durbar festival dates back hundreds of years and involves the display of horse riding skills by districts and nobility households, who pay homage to the Emir on Eid day, known in Katsina as Hawan Daushe’. The Emir, on his part, leads a contingent of members of the Emirate Council, district and village heads in a procession of horses, known asHawan Bariki’, to pay homage to the State governor, a day after the Eid prayer.
In a related development, the State government has closed down 69 healthcare centres as a result of insecurity in the affected council areas of the state. The Executive Secretary, Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Shamsudeen Yahaya Kankia, disclosed this to newsmen in Katsina yesterday.
According to him, two of such centres in Batsari local government were completely burnt down by bandits operating in the area. The agency boss further revealed that some of its staff were kidnapped and released, while lamenting the increasing request for redeployment by health workers in the affected areas.
On the situation of the dilapidated health centres in the State, Dr. Kankia said the government had concluded plans to renovate one health centre in each of the 361 wards across the State. He, however, expressed the commitment of the State government to ensure the complete rehabilitation of health centres across the State.
