The Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, on Thursday, said his administration will not negotiate with terrorists in the State.

Radda was speaking during a special prayer session organized by the state government to seek divine intervention against insecurity amidst the economic hardship facing the state.

“We don’t have plans to give amnesty to terrorists, but we are ready to accept them if they are ready to embrace peace and lay down their arms,” he said.

“This event is not all about prayers, but also for the clerics to step down our message to their various communities to see to the end of the lingering security issues in our dear state and by extension, the country in general.

“We need the cooperation of each and every member of the public to ensure that information is provided to us so that we can fish out the terrorists and criminals terrorising the residents.”

“We must support our security agencies with information on the movements of the terrorists and their collaborators,” Radda maintained.

Palliative Measures

His comment comes in the wake of the removal of subsidy on petroleum that has triggered a hike in the pump price of the product. This is coupled with the rise in the cost of living.

But Governor Radda is assuring residents of the state of his government’s willingness to provide palliatives to reduce the effect of hardship from the hike.

A committee has, according to Radda, been set up to ensure that only the needy are covered in the distribution of the palliatives. He also said the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu is rolling plans to mitigate the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.

Tinubu’s Niger Intentions

This is as he prayed for peace in the country and West Africa, especially in the wake of the Niger Republic crisis.

“We pray for Almighty God’s intervention in ECOWAS, Nigeria, and Niger in particular. We pray for Allah to bring peace between the two friendly nations of Niger and Nigeria so that the critical situation arising from the recent coup d’etat in the Niger Republic will be amicably resolved without firing a gun.

“The message from Tinubu is that we want each and every person to pray for the peaceful coexistence between Nigeria, and other countries in the West African region and the globe,” Governor Radda noted.

“He said we should inform you people that his intentions were not to make life difficult for Niger Republic, but the military junta in Niger Republic has blocked all ways to listen to the delegation sent by the ECOWAS from Nigeria.”

The highlight of Thursday’s event was prayers for peace in Nigeria and Niger Republic. Verses from the Qur’an were also recited during the programme.

The prayer session, held at the Katsina People’s Square, was attended by Christian and Islamic leaders. (Channels TV)

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