Insecurity: Buhari Meets with Nasarawa, Taraba Govs over Attacks from Southern Cameroun

•Masari canvasses collaboration among north-west states

•Group gives FG 3 months ultimatum to end lawlessness

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, met with Governors of Nasarawa and Taraba States over the security challenges facing the two states, especially a recent attack by a separatist group from Southern Cameroun.

In the same vein, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari of Katsina State, has canvassedcollaboration among the seven states in the North West zone to tackle the rising security challenges facing the area.

To this end, a Coalition of Northern Groups, has called on both the federal government and the northern states governors to end insecurity in the region.

President Buhari met separately with the governors at the State House, Abuja and was informed of recent attack on Taraba border by Ambazonia separatists from Southern Cameroun with an assurance that the federal government would step up action in addressing the issue of insecurity in the two states.

Speaking to newsmen after his closed-door meeting with President Buhari, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, said he was at the Villa to appreciate the President for the support being received by his state on security issues especially, in the area of joint patrol operation by police and armed forces personnel.

“I came to express appreciation to Mr. President about all the supports we have continued to receive in the area of security. You must have heard, there were several joint operations of the special forces: the military, the police, together with vigilante, the Air Force and the Navy in the two local government areas bordering Abuja and as a result, the various operations have been very successful.

“Recently, some of our schools were being targeted, we privately approached and actions were taken and then we thank almighty God that we’ve been able to dislodge those ones.”

On the Boko Haram insurgents that had gathered in parts of the state, he said they have now been dispersed. “Those are the ones I have mentioned that mostly they had been dislodged,because of the joint operations, even from the support we get from my colleague in Kogi State. So, constantly, we share information with Kogi State as well as Benue and a lot of efforts have been put into that and so far, so good”.

His Taraba State counterpart, Governor Dickson Ishaku said he briefed President Buhari on the recent attack on parts of the state by armed soldiers from Cameroon.

He said he requested for assistance from the federal government to tackle security and other developmental issues in the state.

“I came to see Mr. President, on security issues. If you remember, some weeks back, there was an attack in Taraba State, specifically, at Manga, which has boundary with Cameroon, it was invaded by Ambazonia separatists from Southern Cameroon. They kill 11 people, including the chief of the small town.

“And I have not been able to see Mr. President, because of his busy schedule and his travels.So, I’m fortunate today to have an appointment with him, to brief on details, about what transpired and need to give us some assistance in that axis. It was a very usual discussion and I am happy.”

However, on the rising banditry in the North West zone Masari, who is canvassing collaboration among the seven states in the zone spoke with newsmen yesterday after leading a delegation of elders from Katsina state to a closed door meeting with Buhari, at the State House, Abuja.

He declared: “I think what is most important for us to succeed in fighting these bandits is for all of us the states, especially, the North Western States to take the pains and work together to make sure that we block all the loopholes.

“But if one State has a policy and another has a different one, certainly they (bandits) will always be moving from one state to another. Luckily enough, we are already working closely with states that border us, like Nasarawa and Niger, to bring the problem to a manageable and tolerable level,” he said.

Commenting on the recent killing of one of his Commissioners, the Katsina governor said the incident had nothing to do with banditry, adding that it was purely an assassination caseand assured the family of the deceased and citizens of the state that security agents were working hard to unravel the cause of the murder.

His words: “The incident we had last week had nothing to do with banditry attack it was purely an assassination by unknown killers, which the Police and other security agencies are working round the clock to unravel what happened.

“Because my Commissioner was killed by an unknown assassin and not a single pin was stolen in his house so, you could see that this was a pure crime that has to be fully investigated for us to know the root causes and why.”

However, the Coalition of Northern Groups, in a communique that followed its one day meeting in Sokoto yesterday vowed that if nothing was done to end the menace, it wouldmobilise its members across the 19 northern states for massive protests and shut down the economy of the region.

The communique, signed by its Sokoto state coordinator, Isah Jabbi Usman, and the state coordinator of Human Rights Monitored Network, Ibrahim Adamu Tudun Doki, also fixed January 17th to 19th for subsequent follow up meetings.

The group, which identified many causes for the insecurity also alleged “The high-handedness and discrimination in the operations of self-appointed community police outfits as the Yan Sa Kai (volunteers) and Yan Banga (vigilante) who have constituted themselves into the complainant prosecutors, judges and executors at the same time.

“An unholy alliance of village heads, who are for all intents and purposes redundant, local police officials and lower court judges to arrest, detain and extort native pastoralists of their livestock and other assets, irrespective of whether they are part of crime committed or not.”