Bauchi, Jigawa Governors Seek President’s Intervention to Stop Kidnapping

Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar and his counterpart in Jigawa State, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, have jointly appealed toPresident Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and stop the spate of kidnapping and other criminal acts in the two states monday, both governors met with the president behind closed doors. Fielding questions from State House Correspondents, the governors said the president’s intervention would help to coordinate the war against banditry in the states. The governors said the president’s intervention was urgently required to ensure that kidnapping did not get out of control in the two states.

The Bauchi governor who spoke first said: “We have come to confer, which is usual, with Mr. President. But as you can see, I am here with the governor of Jigawa State. As you know, we share a border with Jigawa State. “We have come to discuss some security concerns with the president to solicit for his support for us to effectively ensure security in the two states. This is basically what we have come to discuss. “Kidnapping mainly. We are concerned that the spate of kidnapping is increasing and anything that will touch on the security of our state is a matter of grave concern to us. “That is why we have rushed here before it becomes endemic and we have conferred with the president and we have his support.

“The military is conducting exercise in the area, but what the exercise lacked before was coordination between the two states. “So, there is a need for us to coordinate and for us to do that, we require the seal of the Commander-in-Chief.” The Jigawa State governor said the president was willing to assist the two states. He said: We have been fighting insurgency and criminal elements in our individual states but we believe we need a coordinated fight between Bauchi and Jigawa to finally drag them out of the forest and finally put the problem to rest. “The president is willing to assist us and certainly we will see some action.”