Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai has stated that failure of security operatives to defeat bandits have emboldened them to develop a national footprint and endanger national cohesion.
The governor said this at the presentation of the 2020 Annual Security Report on Wednesday March 10.
He also disclosed that Governors in some states in the North-West region are now collaborating and putting together resources to fund military operations against bandits in the Kamuku-Kuyambana forest range that straddles the region.
El-Rufai said: “Together with Niger state and our neighbours in the north-west, we put together resources to fund military operations against bandits in the Kamuku-Kuyambana forest range that straddles the region.
“It is regrettable that the collaboration was not sustained or expanded into a campaign of continuous, simultaneous operations against the bandits across our vast region.
“Failure to contain and defeat them in one place has emboldened them to develop a national footprint and endanger national cohesion.
“The security of our communities depend on the robust projection of state power, and that can only be done with sufficient security numbers to overawe and deter criminals.”
El-Rufai who disclosed that his government has invested in a CCTV network that is being deployed in Kaduna metropolis while options for consistent operations of its drones are being explored, also reiterated his call for the decentralisation of policing.
The Governor stated that the idea of policing such a vast, federal republic in a unitary manner is not pragmatic.