By ZUBAIRU IDRIS

Some residents of the communities affected by banditry in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State on Saturday urged the government to intensify efforts in protecting their lives and property.

The people made the call during a peaceful protest to show their concern on how bandits were recurrently perpetuating their nefarious activities in the area.

The residents blocked the ever-busy Marabar-Kankara to Katsina and Kano state road as well as the road linking Malumfashi to Funtua and Kaduna state.

One of the residents who gave his name as Muhammad Sabiu, said they wanted the government to hasten tackling the problem, lamenting, “because, what is happening in these areas is bad.

“The most affected areas include Malumfashi West, Burdugau, Unguwar-danguna, Yar-teba, Dangume, up to Yargoje.

“Right now, there are corpses of people killed by the bandits in the bush and they have prevented us from evacuating them.

“The killings happened three days ago. That is what is happening day and night in our communities.

“We are calling on the government and the authorities concerned to hasten intensifying measures to curtail the problem.

“They have even prevented some of us from farming, so life in those places has become extremely difficult,” he said.

Another resident, Alhaji Salmanu Yusuf, said: “We blocked the roads to show our sadness over the high rate of insecurity in the communities.

“Most of the children around us are orphans and they don’t have food to eat, so we need urgent support”.

On his part, Sagir Sa’ad, also decried the high rate of insecurity in their areas.

“Right now, there are over 12 corpses of people killed by the bandits that have not evacuated,” he bemoaned.

When contacted, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr Nasiru Muazu-Danmusa, said, “It was over and the protesters were already addressed by the Galadiman Katsina, District Head of Malumfashi.”

It would be recalled that the North-West Governors’ Forum and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently organised a security summit with a view to addressing the lingering insecurity in the zone.

The two-day summit, held in Katsina on June 24, had the theme: “Regional Cooperation for securing lives and livelihoods”.

Gov. Dikko Radda, who is the Chairman of the forum, stressed the importance of confronting the menace collectively, saying, “because it is a concern to all.”

Radda said that their goal was providing peace and ensuring the security of lives and property in the region.

Various stakeholders discussed the problem extensively and proffered solutions. (NAN)

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