TheCable

Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano state governor, says he is working to ensure that the state would not be a “battle ground for for Boko Haram insurgents”.

Speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) media roundtable in Abuja on Thursday, Ganduje said his administration had put in place measures to check security challenges confronting Kano.

“The state is trying hard to make sure that it is not a battle ground for Boko Haram,’’ he said.

“Kano is a mega city, the most populous state in the federation. Mega cities have mega problems and a mega city is not only a city with high population, but a city where things should work.

“Therefore, we must make sure that things are working. The issue of security is very vital. The insecurity problem in the north-eastern part of this country, Kano being a cosmopolitan area cannot escape the fall out of the insecurity from that part of the county.
“In other to protect lives and property, we always meet with security agencies, community leaders and various stakeholders, collecting a lot of intelligence information.”

He said in recent times, there were reported cases of cattle rustling in the hinterlands of the state but that effective arrests had been made.

“A new insecurity dimension came in, the issue of cattle rustling. While Boko Haram is harassing the cities, cattle rustlers are harassing the rural population and by implication, affecting the rural economy,” he said.

“We had to strategise with the security agencies and traditional rulers and the various herdsmen group in collecting information and we were able to crush that syndicate.

“As of today, we have recovered over 10,000 cows and returned them to the owners. Also, with the help of the police and the military, we have captured so many arms and ammunition.

“In other to make the issue sustainable, I declared that any cattle rustler who will be ‘born again’ and surrender, we are ready to forgive and forget. We are ready to rehabilitate.

“I am happy to report that in the first instance, 39 rustlers came forward and this was highly celebrated and now, the security agencies are getting a lot of information on how to chase out these rustlers.”