Northern Govs Seek End To Kidnapping, Banditry, Others
Governors of the19 Northern State under the aegis of the Northern Governors’ Forum on Friday met in Kaduna, the Kaduna State capital.
The governors gathered to discuss matters relating to insecurity, agriculture, oil exploration in the region as well as to commiserate with the Kaduna Governor, Uba Sani, over the accidental airstrike which claimed several lives in Tudun Biri, Igabi LGA of the state in which the Nigerian Army claimed responsibility.
The meeting being hosted by the state governor was the maiden gathering of the governors since their emergence as governors in the May, 2023 general elections.
Amongst the governors present at the meeting are the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda; the deputy governors of Jigawa, Bauchi, Kano, Yobe and Kwara states, who represented their state governors.
Addressing his colleagues, the Chairman of the Forum and Gombe State helmsman, Alhaji Muhammad Yahaya, while condemning the accidental bomb on the people of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, noted that more efforts were needed by the regional governors to fight against insecurity ravaging the region.
The governor, who commended the Federal Government’s fight against insecurity, said more needed to be done as regional governors to bring to an end to kidnapping, banditry, communal clashes and terrorism bedevilling the North.
He argued that addressing insecurity and other challenges remained crucial to the development and well-being of the people of the region.
He promised that the forum under his leadership was working assiduously to ensure that the Tudun Biri incident was not swept under the carpet but thoroughly investigated.
This, he said, was to ensure that the victims were compensated and preventive measures taken to prevent reoccurrence.
He said, “Let me begin by expressing condolence to the people of Tudun Biri who are victims of the unfortunate bombing incident by the Nigerian Army’s unintended operations.
“I want to assure you that all the northern governors are working assiduously to ensure that the unfortunate incident is thoroughly investigated with the view to compensating the victims and taking corrective measures to prevent future occurrence.
“As governors of northern states, while we are commending the Federal Government over the fight against insecurity, we believe that more needs to be done to bring an end to kidnapping, banditry, communal clashes and terrorism bedevilling our region.”
In his remarks as chief host, Governor Uba Sani, lamented the spate of insecurity in the North while calling for the establishment of a Command and Control Centre to coordinate joint operations aimed at tackling terrorism and other related crimes in the region.
Meanwhile, the governors of the 19 northern states have donated the sum of N180m to the victims of the accidental bomb at Tudun Biri village, in Igabi Local Government Area of the Kaduna State.
The Chairman of the forum and Governor of Gombe State, who made the announcement, alongside other colleagues, presented a symbolic cheque to Governor Sani during the maiden meeting.
