Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari has said the state is under siege, and that he is also not safe.
The governor said kidnappers and bandits had taken over the state. He spoke in Katsina yesterday during an extra ordinary security meeting he summoned over the raging insecurity in the state.
“Katsina is under serious siege by kidnappers and bandits, even me as a governor I’m not safe”, the governor said.
Speaking before the meeting went into closed doors, Masari lamented that kidnapping and armed robbery were the order of the day in the state as “they have taken over cattle rustling which is now third”.
“Only two days ago, some people left my residence and around 2am on this very ring road around Kwado area, a gang of five fully armed men robbed them at a gunpoint, this is how bad it is.
“ Today (yesterday), from the security reports I received from the state director of SSS, all the reports showed, except one, kidnapping and armed robbery.
“So, our state is under siege and it is growing, that is why we decided to call for this meeting.
“No one, not even myself, is safe, this is the situation. In front of this house (Government House), five electric poles were stolen.
“This is a bad situation that we all cannot fold our arms any longer. even if this meeting will take us midnight, we must find a solution today.
“A woman, I was just told, was picked and after demanding N5m, they (kidnappers) shot the person who took the money to them.
“We have seen the worst before, we can get out of this now also. We must work together to find a solution of who is to do what, when, where and how.
“Finding a way out we must, there is no option because we are talking about our survival as a state and people”.
The meeting was attended by heads of security agencies in the state as well as traditional and religious leaders.
