The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has expressed concern about the escalating activities of bandits within the State, noting that they are gradually gaining dominance.
During a courtesy visit at the Exco Chamber of the Government House on Wednesday, the Governor expressed the following statement in his speech, addressing the Bauchi State Council of Emirs.
According to his statement, the State has become a sanctuary for nefarious individuals who are increasingly disrupting the peace, as a result of the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to combat banditry and terrorism in other regions of the country.
However, he asserted that his administration is actively engaged in efforts to safeguard the well-being and security of the state’s residents, indicating that they are not complacent in their endeavours.
“With regards to internal security, I am glad to inform you that we have established a Ministry of Internal Security that will partner with the Federal Government just to drive the issue of providing internal security. We have our own vigilante that is working with the established security.
“Other states are moving ahead, we have one of the largest populations in the region and so with the activities of the Federal Government in other parts of the geopolitical zones, the bandits are coming to Bauchi.
“We will have to go the extra mile to make sure we checkmate them. We are doing that but certainly, we’re getting overwhelmed and that is why we call on the Federal Government to help us and to come to our aid, to do that thing that they are doing in the north-west so that as we have always been a sanctuary of peace, we’ll maintain that status.
“The Emir of Katagum is one Emir that is known to always go out at night patrolling. I want the other emirs to emulate him and do what he is doing, not that they are not doing, but you are uncommon in terms of your own forthrightness.
“We will try to exercise restraint and patience with your district heads and with the emirs. Even if we remove or punish any member of the traditional institution, we are doing it with a lot of pain. I don’t like it but we have to do it when there is apparent disobedience to the rules of engagement of emirs, traditional rulers, and so on.
“We are just taking a minimal number to make an example out of them. We cannot afford to punish all the people that are transgressing, we’re just making sure that we are trying to bring remorse to put people on course but we are doing this with a lot of apology and regret. We don’t like touching the institution because that institution is the symbol of our togetherness,” he said.
Because the opposition People’s Democratic Party controls Bauchi State, he pleaded with President Bola Tinubu not to disregard it.
He said: “Some of the infrastructures that will help us have been left out, I want you the emirs to talk to the new President that we need the railways to be revived from Enugu to Maiduguri. This is the first railway route but it has been abandoned. Even our road from Akwanga to Jos to Bauchi to Gombe is bad.
“But we want to express our gratitude to His Excellency, the Vice President on behalf of His Excellency, the President, Bola Tinubu who pledged to build the road between Bauchi and Gombe because the road is totally bad. We will make time with you to go and thank Mr. President for that and to ask for other things.
“We cannot be left out because we are in the opposition, we have to be in the mainstream. Nothing works in Nigeria without Bauchi. We are controlling the balance of power, the balance of tradition and knowledge, and with people like you, I am calling on the Federal Government not to ignore us because we are in PDP. We are a state and we are ready to work with the Federal Government.”
