Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
The Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, has read riot Acts to local government chairmen in the state over the deteriorating security situation in their domains, saying any connivance of local government officials with bandits to shortchange the people of the state would be met with dire consequences.
Mohammed gave the warning yesterday at the new Banquet Hall, Government House, when he presided over an extraordinary stakeholders meeting, which centred on security and local government administration in the state.
He said the state in recent times had been experiencing a surge in the activities of miscreants and bandits in some of the local government areas of the state, leading to abductions, as well as loss of lives and properties.
He reiterated that the insecurity in the state was becoming very worrisome as a majority of the population of the state live in the rural areas, pointing out also that if insecurity continued to thrives in the rural areas, it would definitely pose a threat to the state.
“The chairmen of the local governments are the chief executives of their respective local governments. This insecurity, it would appear, we have told them to be holding weekly meetings with their security agencies in their local governments, but they are not doing that and if they are not doing that, it has not been brought to my knowledge. I said that when I met with you, that I have been meeting with security agencies in the security council, you should also do that.
“We have been lending you support to run your security challenges, you are supposed to work with the security heads, Emirs, village heads, the vigilantes and the security agencies in your local governments, but you are not doing that. It is very unfortunate that the situation is deteriorating and everybody is looking up to the governor or the federal government,
“The Community engagement is the most important thing in this, most especially, when there is a lot of incidence of connivance between local government officials, even state ministry officials and traditional institutions with the bandits to shortchange our people at the local level. This is unacceptable.
“We will no longer tolerate this, because there is nothing that is happening that we are not getting report from the DSS. It is either you are non-challant or sometimes forestry officers and those ministries responsible for settlements for forest reserves, they connive. I am letting you know that today, whoever connives and shortchanges, will face the music. We are not going to allow this thing to continue.
“This insecurity is not happening in vaccum; somebody will not just come from somewhere to insecure us. We have been adjudged as the secured state, but this is just a gimmick, we will no longer tolerate this. So, we are going to discuss on all these issues such as land speculations in the areas, where our forest reserves are being destroyed, bandits come and take territorial possession, after being provided the right of way by you, because the local government authorities are under you” the governor said.
