Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has vowed that its administration will neither negotiate with nor grant amnesty to bandits terrorizing the state.
El-Rufai who spoke when he visited Karewa and four other villages in Igabi and Giwa local government areas where 51 persons were massacred by bandits in an early morning attack on Sunday, apologised for the inability of the state government to protect the people.
He however observed that “if not for the security agencies’ prompt intervention, they would have wiped out the entire villages”.
He added: “I also came to apologise for failure to protect you fully, we are doing our best to minimise such incidents, you should continue to forgive us. But we are doing the best we can and we are hoping that this banditry issue will be addressed because security personnel are on ground to manage the situation.
“In Kaduna we have vast land, if the security closes one area they attack another area,” he lamented.
He said he has asked the security agencies to wipe out the bandits.
“It is our duty to wipe them out, and until we send them to their maker, the security agencies are taking the war to the forest and we are eliminating them”, he said.
According to him, security operatives intervened shortly after the attack, both on ground and in the air, and succeeded in wiping out the attackers.
“The security agencies are doing the best they can, but they find it difficult to get to remote areas in good time due to poor access roads while the natives also find it difficult to get to security personnel due to poor GSM network.
“But I am grateful to the Air force, Army, Police and the DSS for being always prompt otherwise it would have been worse.”
He urged the people to continue to be patient and vigilant, as well as support government and security agencies to win the war against the bandits.
Four houses and six vehicles were destroyed in the attack on Hashimawa, Marina, Kerawa, Unguwan Musa and Zariyawa villages.
Earlier, the District Head of Karewa, Alhaji Ibrahim Damu called on the state government to intensify efforts in tackling security challenges in the area, as the people were living in constant fear.
