Gov. El-Rufai restates commitment to tackle banditry

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has restated his administration’s resolve not to allow bandits to disrupt the education system.

El-Rufai said this on Wednesday when the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao, visited him.

The governor said the state government would do everything possible to stop bandits from disrupting the state’s education system or destroy the future of the children.

He commended security agencies for their steadfastness in the fight against banditry and insurgency in some parts of the country.

“You have been doing so much to keep the country safe, we cannot commend you enough.

“We shall keep our schools open, we are confident that we shall win the fight against banditry, we are sure that our schools will remain functional,” he said.

El-Rufai further said that the decision of the government followed the popular opinion raised at a stakeholders meeting on Tuesday.

“At that meeting with senior government officials, heads of security agencies, civil society and religious groups, it was agreed that our schools should remain open.

“We also agreed that only the most vulnerable schools should be shut down, this is because they cannot be easily accessed due to the  terrain of their location,” he said.

The governor said that with the gallantry and preparedness of the security agencies, recent attempts by bandits to abduct school children ‘had not been fully successful.’

El-Rufai pointed out that although there were still security challenges in the country, the security agencies had shown enormous capacity to surmount it.

Earlier, the Chief of Air Staff said that his visit was to assess the preparedness of the Air Training Command, whose personnel are fighting the bandits in the North West.

Amao said that the security agencies were determined to wipe out the bandits to enable members of the public go about their lawful duties without fears.