The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has vowed to bring in foreign mercenaries to fight terrorists following the Monday night attack on a Kaduna-bound train, if the military fails to tackle the terrorism head-on.
El-Rufai, who spoke with journalists shortly after briefing the president on the recent killings in Kaduna State including Monday’s bomb explosion on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line which claimed nine lives with a yet-to-be known number of people abducted, said state governors will have no choice but to take action to protect the lives and properties of their people.
The governor also noted that if the military takes no proactive response, state governors would have to hire mercenaries to do the job.
“Why do we always wait for them to strike before we go after them? Why can’t we go to where they are and kill them? We know where they are. We have the maps as the military knows, the policemen know and everyone knows. The DSS is giving us a report every time: see where Dogo Gide is, see what he is planning.
“Why is it that up till now, the security operatives has not gone to kill them? Where are our soldiers? Why have they not done it? That is why I have come to see Mr President.
“And also I have said that if these actions are not taken, it becomes a must for us as governors to take measures to protect our citizens, even if it means we will import mercenaries from outside the country to do it. If our soldiers fail, I swear to God, we will do that,” the governor, who spoke in a brief interview conducted in the Hausa language, threatened.
On the identity of the assailants, El-Rufai said the train attack was done by Boko Haram members and “not the bandits that we are used to. They came prepared. They have planned this attack for long to the extent that they know the first-class coach where they will get the big personalities.”
He added, “To us, this happened because we have consistently written letters to the Nigerian Railway Corporation. We wrote them twice to stop night trips because we had a security report that Boko Haram had entered and they were planning to blow up the train. We wrote to them twice but they didn’t listen.”
The former Federal Capital Territory minister, who said the president has assured him that action will be taken to bring an end to terrorism in the next few months, warned that the attackers, whom he identified as Boko Haram elements, could hold the entire nation to ransom if the military fails to, as a matter of urgency, storm their forest hideouts and bomb the forest enclaves.
“I have been suggesting that these forests where these bandits are hiding, it is high time that we went there and bomb the forests for everyone in the forest to be killed. Honestly, if this is not done, this banditry in Niger, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto will not end.
“This thing can consume the entire Nigeria, because the way these people are getting money, the way they boast that they don’t fear authorities, they don’t fear the military, I don’t know why up till now the Nigerian military will not enter these forests and deal with these people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna state government has received luggage, valuables and other belongings of some passengers attacked by terrorists on the Abuja-Kaduna train by terrorists on Monday, March 28.
According to the state government, about nine persons have already collected their items after presenting proof at the point of recovery
Ezinwanne Onwuka, senior staff reporter and columnist with WAP is a Nigerian-based writer and content developer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her interests include reading, writing, researching and graphic designing.
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