By Ken Afor
Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umar Rada, has said that due to the measures he has adopted to tackle insecurity in the state, there is intelligence that he is being targeted by armed bandits.
He made this known to journalists on Friday following a robust security council meeting with heads of security agencies, traditional rulers in the state, top government officials, religious leaders, traders associations, and local government chairmen, among others, according to NAN.
While addressing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, which was aimed at providing measures to prevent protests similar to those that occurred in Niger and Kano states and other parts of the country during the week, from taking place in Katsina, the governor said it was unfortunate that prices of food items are increasing daily.
He called on stakeholders to provide useful and practical solutions that could be adopted to solve the problem.
“It is unfortunate that prices of food items and other essential commodities have been increasing daily, hence the need for stakeholders to offer useful advice on the problem.
“I was told that foodstuffs are being transported from our markets to neighbouring countries like Niger, then to Mali and Burkina Faso, because our Naira has been depreciating while their currencies are gaining value.
“Such people are taking that opportunity at the detriment of the poor. That is a great problem which we cannot fold our arms and allow it to continue,” he said.
Weighing in on insecurity in the state, the governor appealed to the people to work together and protect their communities from attacks.
“Security report revealed that I’m now one of their targets in the state because of the measures we are taking to deal with the situation.
“We are calling on people to organise themselves to protect their communities from attacks by criminals,” he added.
It would be recalled that Katsina State has been one of the states in the country that has experienced mass abductions of school children during the administration of the immediate past Governor, Aminu Bello Masari.
On December 11, 2020, a gang of gunmen on motorcycles launched an attack on a boarding school, Government Science Secondary School, and over 300 pupils were reportedly kidnapped on the outskirts of Kankara, Katsina State.
According to reports, the attack on the school, where over 800 pupils reside, lasted for over an hour without the deployment of security operatives.
Eight days later, on December 17, Masari said that 344 of the victims had been freed from where they were being held in a wood in neighbouring Zamfara State following negotiations with the bandits.
