From Agaju Madugba, Katsina

Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari has reviewed the precarious security situation in his state, lamenting that at least 10 of the state’s 34 Local Government Areas are currently under siege by bandits and other violent criminals.

‘Ten out of the 34 Local Government Areas in Katsina State are under attack daily by bandits and with this situation in mind, there is no way we can sleep,’ Governor Masari told the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, on Thursday at the Government House.

According to the governor, ‘if we say we are happy here in Katsina, then we are not being honest.

‘We are disturbed by this issue of banditry, with kidnappings, rape, armed robbery as every day, we record at least one or two incidents.

‘But we thank God because if you compare the current situation with what was obtainable about six months ago, there is progress in restoring the situation to normalcy.

‘As I have often said, this issue is everybody’s business. It is not only the business of security agencies. It is our collective responsibility to secure our communities.

‘These bandits are people who have been living peacefully with their neighbours for centuries but somewhere along the line, something went wrong and that is how we found ourselves in this situation.

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‘We can overcome the situation and restore normalcy to our communities but this can only be possible with the cooperation of everybody including media operators.

‘If we want to depend solely on the security agencies, how many are they, compared to the population and the sheer size of Nigeria.

‘We have amended our local government laws by creating a three-tier security system starting from the ward level in order to include local leaders and restore the roles of the village and district heads, the imams and other community leaders and bring everybody on board, to help the security agencies.

‘We have passed the era of the blame game as we must do whatever it takes to return things to normalcy in our communities and give the government the opportunity to do what it is supposed to do.

‘The purpose of governance is being seriously challenged. The purpose of government is to protect lives and property and honour and dignity of citizens.

‘But when this purpose is under attack then the entire system is under attack.

‘With technology, you can fight wars with a minimum number of personnel. So, I hope, the Army authorities will deploy technology so that that we can bring these banditry activists under control,’ he said.

Earlier, the Chief of Army Staff explained that he was in Katsina on an operational visit to military formations in the area.