Masari: Security Gulps Two-thirds of our Revenue Monthly

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has revealed that his administration allocates two-thirds of the state’s monthly revenue to security agencies to sustain their operations in the ongoing war against terrorists in the state.

He stated this yesterday during the graduation ceremony of 600 vigilantes trained by the state government at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Training College, Babbar Ruga-Katsina.

Masari, represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Muntari Lawal, said the state government remained committed and determined to end banditry and other security challenges bedevilling the state.

He said: “We are going to fight this (banditry) to an end. It has been a major challenge to us, especially to us as a government, to the extent that people don’t believe that the government is doing everything to protect lives and property.

“But the truth of the matter is we are doing more than you can see. Just last week, I signed a request to the state House of Assembly asking about N1.5 billion for security purposes.

“The Assembly was gracious enough to approve it. And by this week we are going to start implementation. These are monies meant for all the security agencies in the state to beef up operations to confront the evils before us.

“So, we are doing more than you can see. We are not mentioning the amount of money we spent on security every month. About two-thirds of the state’s monthly revenue goes to the security agencies to sustain their operations.”

Masari, however, said with the calibre of people trained and the type of training received by them, he does not doubt that in a few days, it will be bloody for the bandits in the state.

He added that the trainees would assist the security operatives in combating banditry and kidnappings and prevent the hoodlums from infiltrating the state from Zamfara and other neighbouring states.

Earlier, the Special Adviser to Governor Masari on Security Matters, Ibrahim Ahmed Katsina, said the vigilantes were trained in intelligence gathering and community policing to enable them to fend off security threats.

He said out of the 3,000 vigilantes the state government had indicated interest to recruit, a total of 1,100 have been trained and “the remaining 1,900, we are going to do the segmented training for them.”

He urged members of the public to assist them with relevant information and assistance rather than being armchair critics of the government’s efforts in tackling the security challenges in the state.