A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Shehu Sani, has alleged that the actions of Governor Nasir El-Rufai are contributing to the worsening cases of terrorism in the state.
Mr Sani made the allegations while reacting to a recent memo written by the governor to President Muhammadu Buhari, raising an alarm that Ansaru terrorists are forming a parallel government in the state.
Speaking on Arise TV on Saturday, the former lawmaker said there was nothing new in the letter, adding that the governor was only trying to exonerate himself.
Mr Sani noted that the issues raised in the letter were known for seven years, even though the governor and his aides were denying it.
“When I was in the Senate, I continuously and consistently raised a motion about the situation, but the governor and his likes portrayed me as someone undermining the development of the state and exaggerating the situation,” he said.
“Nothing special about the letter written to the President by the governor. Kaduna State has been under the siege of bandits for many years. Right now, it’s the hub of the terrorist group and kidnapping business.
“The letter Governor El-Rufai sent to the President is also admitting that the government has failed at all levels as it failed to secure the lives of its people.
“The terrorists have certainly established their government, putting structures in place, appointing leaders, collecting taxes, establishing the court, settling disputes and providing security to villagers.
“The letter is a fact but the author of the letter is also a contributing factor to the deterioration of the security because, over the years, they shied away from telling the president the true situations in the state,” Mr Sani said.
Mr Sani also accused the state governor of not doing enough in supporting security agencies in the state.
“The Kaduna government has not done well in tackling the insecurity and no (adequate) support for the security agencies operating in the state and some of his (the governor) utterances have made the terrorists move into Kaduna.
“The governor is not proactive to security in terms of support, the security situation could not have been to this level if the governor and his colleagues in the affected states use the available resources of their state to help the security agencies,” Mr Sani said.
The former lawmaker further alleged that only two local government areas are safe in Kaduna – Kaduna North and Kaduna South.
Mr Sani said that even the outskirts of the towns are not safe.
“The government has failed over the years, and the success against the war on terror is very minimal.
“There was no successful operation to rescue the mass numbers of people in captivity, parents and relatives are left to pay the ransom to secure the release of their loved ones,” he added.
The governor’s media aide, Muyiwa Adeleye, is yet to respond to the allegations, as the text message sent to his mobile number hasn’t been replied to, as at the time of filing this report.
