Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufa’i, has stated that terrorism, banditry and insurgency are more serious in the North-West region than in the North-East, saying the situation presented a clear danger to the 2023 General Elections and Population Census if not nipped in the bud now.
According to el-Rufa’i, the establishment of the North-West Theatre Command was to counter-insurgency across the affected States and enhance the coordination of the resources of the armed forces, the police, the State Security Service (SSS), the respective state vigilance services, hunters, and other local volunteers to fight the insurgents.
The governor, in an address at the presentation of the states security reports for the second and third quarters of 2022, held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, on Friday, gave the assurance that the state government would continue to do everything to enhance security.
He expressed delight at the success of the security operation launched in 2015-2016 as collaboration between the states in the area and the Federal Government.
El-Rufai said the initial success of the operation recorded in the Kamuku-Kuyambana forest ranges was not consolidated through continuous operations which enabled the criminal elements to recover, regroup and resume their activities.
The governor stated that the lesson and the nature of the cross-state operations of the criminals informed the view of the Kaduna State government that a theatre command similar to the one in the North-East was required.
He added that effective security operations in the seven states of the North-West and Niger State, which have continuous and contiguous forest ranges, required this approach.