Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufa’i, says the North-West region is worried over the possibility of Boko Haram insurgents relocating from the North-East.
He said this yesterday, during the inaugural edition of the ‘Fountain Summit’, an event organised by the Ekiti State government.
Recall that in May, the leader of the Boko Haram group, Abubakar Shekau, had been reported killed by the Islamic State in West Africa Province, (ISWAP), a breakaway faction of Boko Haram.
Although there had been previous announcements of the death of Shekau, since May, there haven’t been public video appearances of the Boko Haram leader.
Speaking further, the governor said all Nigerians should be concerned about security issues, irrespective of which region is more affected by insecurity.
El-Rufa’i added that although Kaduna is facing security challenges, investors are aware that their assets are safe.
“We have security challenges, but our investors know where their assets are and they know that those assets are safe and we’ve never seen the headlines of security affecting our inflow of investments”, he said.
“But we must work on improving security; or more than that, we must stop this ‘us-versus-them’ mentality and collaborate more closely. Don’t see what is happening in Kaduna and say it is not my problem. It will be your problem one day unless it is solved”, he emphasised.
Speaking further on security issues in Kaduna, the governor said there is a major difference between what is reported and how it reflects the realities in the entire State.
“There are many ungovernable spaces in our State. But you see, when an incident occurs in one part of the State, remotely connected with what is happening in Kaduna or Zaria, or in the metropolitan centres, people think the entire Kaduna State is unsafe.
“It is not true; Kaduna is not Lagos. One local government area in Kaduna – Birnin-Gwari local government area – is three times the size of Lagos State. So, when something happens in Ikeja, for instance, it doesn’t mean that Epe is affected. It is the same thing, but even larger in Kaduna State”, he stated.
