The governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, met with leaders from seven troubled local government areas to discuss the security problems in those areas.
The seven local government areas are Kajuru, Birnin-Gwari, Kachia, Kagarko, Igabi, Chikun, and Giwa.
Recently, terrorists kidnapped 287 schoolchildren from two schools in Kuriga, Chikun LGA, and 87 were also abducted in Kajuru LGA.
The meeting, which took place at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, was attended by security agency heads, community leaders, traditional authorities, the seven LGA chairmen, and state assembly members from affected communities across the state.
Sani, in his opening statement at the meeting, assured the parents of the affected Kuriga community that their children would soon return home safely.
He mentioned that relevant security agencies and President Bola Tinubu were handling the situation to ensure the safe return of the 287 abductees who had spent two weeks in captivity.
The governor also mentioned that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss how communities could work with security agencies to share intelligence and address insecurity in the seven affected LGAs.
Sani urged traditional leaders to report any suspicious movements or attacks by terrorists promptly to enable security forces to intervene and address the situation.
The governor stated, “As I said, we are making a lot of progress and we are also working to ensure that our children return home safely.
“Only yesterday (Tuesday), I had further interactive sessions with the communities that were affected, particularly, the Kuriga community.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the efforts we are making with relevant security agencies and Mr. President have been doing everything possible to ensure that our children return back home safely.
“I can say it here that Mr. President is determined. I have had a series of discussions with him, the National Security Adviser, and service chiefs.
“A lot of progress has been made so far. We will not disclose them here but we are on top of the matter and by the grace of God, our children will return home safely.”
He added, “We are here this afternoon to have a very important meeting which should be more of an interactive meeting between Kaduna State Government and head of security agencies in Kaduna as well as members of the state Assembly from the seven Local Government Areas that were affected by an unfortunate incident of insecurity in the last few weeks. With us here also are our highly respected traditional rulers from the seven Local Government Areas.
“Some of the local government areas are also here with us. The essence of this meeting is to look at our efforts towards intelligence sharing and gathering because we believe that security issue is everyone’s concern particularly those at the grassroots levels and here we have traditional rulers who are representing our people at the grassroots level.
“We also have state House of Assembly members who are chosen from the seven Local Government Areas in question, as well as the local government chairmen.”
