Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Thursday in Kaduna expressed concerns about the emergence of insurgents and their enclaves in Birnin Gwari and Chukun Local Government Areas of the state.
He listed the insurgents to those belonging to Boko Haram and Ansaru.
El Rufai raised the concerns after the presentation of the Kaduna State Security Incident Report for the first quarter of 2022.
He also expressed worry at the increasing use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the state, which he said suggested that terrorists had moved into Kaduna State.
He noted that the debriefing on the Abuja-Kaduna train attack of March 28 indicated that the terrorists were planning to relocate to Kaduna.
According to him, the assailants made comments such as: “the forests in Kaduna are even better than that of Sambisa and so they should all relocate here.’’
The governor stressed that “insecurity has moved from the Northeast to the Northwest.
“The situation in the Northwest is far more serious and could be potentially more dangerous than we have ever had in the Northeast.
“We would like the military and security agencies to take notice of this before things go out of control.’’
El-Rufai thanked the police for ensuring that many IEDCs and mines found in Kaduna State were defused without loss of lives.
He also lamented the high rate of drug abuse in Kaduna State and commended the NDLEA, traditional leaders and community leaders for efforts at curtailing the scourge.
The governor stated that the government would seek legal advice to shut patent medicine stores selling illicit drugs, shut the premises and acquire the building for demolition.
“We have to take drastic action because related to every form of crime from banditry to terrorism is the use of hard drugs.
“These bandits take drugs before they commit their crimes; virtually every crime is related to drug abuse. I think we must cut the supply chain to enable us to control the demand,’’ he emphasised.
El-Rufai also noted that security agencies had been overstretched and there was the need to increase recruitment into vigilance groups.
“The 1000 vigilantes that we recruited and trained at the Police College have been very useful in assisting the army, police and other security agents,’’ he said.
The governor also said that he craved the resumption of flights at the Kaduna Airport after the March 26 assailants’ attack at the facility.
“We are grateful to the Defence Headquarters for enabling the establishment of the Nigeria Defence Academy Demonstration Battalion in Kaduna State.
“I appeal to the Air Force to also have some kind of permanent deployment at the airport to secure it so that flights will resume,’’ El-Rufai said.
