By Esther Akaa
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has called for more sophisticated weapons and advanced technology to be provided for security agents to enable them fight the new wave of asymmetry warfare in the country.
Governor El-Rufai made this call on Wednesday when he received the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Isiaka Amoo who paid him a courtesy call in Kaduna.
The governor who vowed that Kaduna state government will not allow bandits to dictate its educational policy or destroy the livelihood of children and their future said, schools will remain open but only the most vulnerable schools will be closed.
He explained that the state executive council, heads of security agencies, civil society organisations, clerics and clergymen among other stakeholders, had earlier met on Tuesday and deliberated on how to tackle challenges facing school children, due to bandits attacks on schools in the state.
‘’We will keep our schools open, we are confident that with the guidance that we have been getting from the Garrison Commander, Base Commander, the AOC, GOC and the ability of the security agencies to respond in a timely manner, our schools will remain open.
‘’So far, all the attempts by bandits to carry out abductions have not been fully successful. This is largely due to the preparatory work done by the security agencies in advance. We knew we would be targeted because of our stance. But the security agencies were ready for them.
‘’We appreciate the efforts and the timely response of the Armed Forces and we will continue to urge you to sustain the tempo,’’ he said.
El-Rufai pointed out that although the country was not where it should be in terms of security, the security agencies were doing their best within the limits of the resources available to them.
‘’This is why, along with other governors, we have made strident calls for more resources to be made available to the armed forces, to acquire more advanced technology and armament, to be able to deal with this new wave of asymmetry warfare,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Amoo, said that he was in Kaduna for associational and operational visit, especially to see the preparedness of the Air Training Command, whose personnel are fighting bandits in the North West zone.
He stated that the Chief of Defence Staff and the Service Chiefs were determined to wipe out the bandits so that farmers can go back to the farm at the end of the dry season and continue their farming activities.