By James Orji
Bello Masari, Katsina State governor has assured residents of the state that telecoms services will be restored before the new year. The governor stated this on Tuesday while signing the 2022 state budget into law.
The state government shut down telecoms services in many local government in September as part of the coordinated efforts to fight banditry.
Recall also that Governor Masari said two days ago that his governmnet will no longer negotiate with notorious bandits leader, Bello Turji, noting that the criminal gang leader is not sincere. Turji, wrote President Muhammadu Buhari last week saying he was ready to dialogue with the government.
Speaking to journalists at the state’s capital on Tuesday, Governor Masari said telecoms services will be restored in the seven remaining local govrnments before January 2022, urging the residents of the state to defend themselves against criminals.
Masari said “We must prepare to fight back as individuals, to fight the bandits because they are evil and they represent evil. We should not retreat in this fight.
“We took over under serious threat of security in 2015, and by God’s grace we will not hand over this country to the next generation of leaders under this condition. We must restore normalcy.
“We inherited the government with the security challenges and we must end it and hand over the state to our successors without the same problem. We must control and dominate our environment.
“There are two advantages that we have, numbers and technology. When you put the two together, we will restore normalcy. It is not beyond us to do that,” the governor said.
Two days ago while speaking on bandits’ leader Turji call for negotiation Governor Masari said “Who is he to talk of dialogue or ceasefire? He is a liar. He can’t tell us peace accord and dialogue. To sit and discuss peace accord with who? In what capacity is he speaking and even calling for dialogue?
“Go and tell those he (Mr Turji) killed their families to do dialogue with him and see. And he is even setting conditions, what conditions is he setting and for what? He wants dialogue and he is even setting conditions.”
Turji’s terror group is one of the several gangs of bandits operating in the North-west and North-central states. They kill and kidnap for ransom. Record show that the bandits have killed overy 1000 people this year alone.
