President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to deploy more advanced military equipment and surveillance technology to Katsina State to halt the recent spate of attacks on innocent citizens by bandits.
Tinubu, who received a delegation of eminent citizens of the state led by Governor Dikko Umaru Radda at the State House, said the federal government will consider the operations of a state police and further equip recently deployed forest guards.
He said the exigencies of security in some states will require the deployment of outfits that understand the terrain and the peculiar culture of the people and can easily network at the grassroots.
“The security challenges that we are facing are surmountable. Yes, we have porous borders. We inherited weaknesses that could have been addressed earlier. It is a challenge that we must fix, and we are facing it.
“I have today directed all the security agencies to energise further and look at the strategies. We have approved the additional acquisition of drones,” Tinubu added.
The President noted that daily feedback on military operations in Katsina will now be mandatory and stressed the urgency of addressing security challenges that he said were inherited and exacerbated by porous borders.
Tinubu said the federal government is considering the establishment of state police as part of broader security reforms.
“I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create a state police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, our people, our livelihood, our places of worship, and our recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us.”
During the meeting, Tinubu also paid tribute to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, assuring the delegation that his legacy would be preserved.
“The time we lost our brother, President Buhari, is a loss for all of us. It is the will of God Almighty, but he has left in a good way. He didn’t hand over a defeated country, a battered political structure, but a legacy of success, and that is the most important thing,” Tinubu said.
“We just have to continue praying that Almighty Allah should grant him Aljannah Firdausi and give the rest of us the ability to stand very strong and push Nigeria forward. Not to look back in sorrow but move forward in success.
“It would have been regretful if we had lost the elections to the other parties. There are no other wishes he would have had than to have Katsina State intact, and the Presidency intact.”