Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari has revealed how cattle rustling snowballed into the current spate of kidnapping and banditry in the North West zone of the country.
The governor spoke in Katsina when he appeared on NAN Forum on Saturday.
He attributed part of the security challenges the region is facing to lack of education as well as influx of criminals from some North African countries.
He lamented that the current situation had prevented farmers from accessing their farmlands.
Masari, however, revealed that said there were ongoing efforts to tackle insecurity in the state.
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”Unfortunately, what we met as cattle rustling has turned into banditry and insurgency, which are depriving people, especially those living in the border area of the forests which are very fertile, from access to their farms, drastically affecting their source of livelihood.
“They have lost their ploughing cattle which they used to plough the land.
”This has caused another challenge to our Restoration Agenda in Katsina, but we thank God that we can continue,” he said.
Masari also revealed that the seven governors from the North West Zone had been meeting to work out modalities on how to end insurgency, part of which is the ongoing training of about 500 vigilance members, to be followed by another 3,000 soon.
