Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has reaffirmed that the state remains one of the safest in the North-East, dismissing reports that a recent incident in Darazo was linked to banditry.
Speaking at an extraordinary meeting of the State Executive Council held at the Government House yesterday, the governor insisted that the situation had been misinterpreted.
“Yes, we had an incident in Darazo last week. It was reported. But I want to tell you that, it is a community issue. We are here on the ground. We know it,” he stated.
Mohammed emphasised that the matter was being handled through conventional security channels. “I want to tell the general public that, what happened in Darazo was not banditry. It is a community issue. We will handle it with the Police and the DSS. Because of security reasons, I will not disclose all the information.
“But investors will be reassured that it is not banditry.”
The governor also addressed the recent temporary closure of schools across the state, explaining that the decision was taken on the advice of security agencies.
“Yes, we closed our schools because we were asked to close them by the security agencies. They have more information than us,” he said.
“Even though I am the Chief Security Officer, I don’t have the personnel. They have told us that there is a likelihood of abduction of our students as has been practiced all over.”
Mohammed said the government acted out of caution and prioritised the safety of students. “That is why we are here. For being proactive is not just to create fear but to be safe and secure is better than to go with evil. We will make sure that we do as much as we can to make those half-awake or half-rescued vulnerable students are kept safe in the schools.”
He announced that all public schools in the state would soon undergo structural security upgrades. “By the end of the year, all our schools will be fenced and we will put some lights and so on and so forth. And that is why the recruitment of the vigilante will be concurrent so that our aspect of safe-school programme as enunciated by the Office of the National Security Advisor will be implemented 100% emotionally. At least we will do our own and leave our Creator to the rest.”
The governor further assured residents that his administration was tightening financial management to free up resources for development projects. “We are doing everything possible to save money to be able to provide more developments for the good of the citizens,” he said.
