Insecurity stalls major roads construction in Katsina, says Masari

‘NAF got 23 fighter planes in six years’
Insecurity, brought about by the nefarious activities of criminal elements, is stalling work on some major roads in Katsina State, says Governor Aminu Masari.

This is just as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness and Campaign (APC-LAC) said the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) received 23 new aircraft since 2015.

Masari spoke yesterday after inspecting some road projects in Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s local council.

Some of the roads inspected include the new 11.2km Guriya–Sandamu–Kwasarawa road project, at the cost of N1.1 billion, which is 95 per cent completed. The 20km Rogogo–Zango road project valued at N1.8 billion is at 55 per cent completion stage. There is the 38km Bun-Bun–Kasugi–Majigiri–Dankama road project worth N2.1 billion and the Yandaki–Dankama, Kaita–Katsina road worth N2.03 billion.

Masari lamented that one of the roads had already reached substantial completion stage, but the contractor had to abandon it due to insecurity.

However, the Commissioner for Works and Housing, Tasiu Doguru, said several road projects were ongoing or had been completed across the state, setbacks by insecurity not withstanding.

MEANWHILE, the APC-LAC led by Mr. Ismail Ahmed, assured that dozens of such aircraft were being expected in the country in no distant time.

Stating that new platforms are being acquired for the Army, Air Force and Navy, the group disclosed that the Navy recently acquired its first new Landing Ship Tank (LST) since 1979.

It cited the launch of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund and the new Police Act signed by President Buhari in 2020, which incorporated the concept of community policing to buttress President Buhari’s determination to secure the country.

The group noted: “None of Nigeria’s security challenges is new; what is new is the boldness and commitment with which the Buhari administration is confronting these age-old challenges. Even as several challenges persist across the country, we are confident that the interventions being implemented, many of which have not been seen in Nigeria’s recent history, will begin to yield fruit in the near future.

“Buhari is a huge advocate of the re-institution by states of age-old communal security mechanisms that bring together traditional and community leaders and the police, for the provision of credible intelligence and the resolution of conflicts and tensions as they arise.”

The Guardian gathered that in the last five years, a number of solutions have been deployed to support the police, immigration and other security agencies, including the new Nigeria Police National Command and Control Centre (NPF-C4i); the Nigeria Police Crime and Incident Database (NPC & IDB) Centre; the West Africa Police Information System (WAPIS) developed by INTERPOL, and the Migration and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), developed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).