El-Rufai to shutdown telecommunication services
In a bid to halt insecurity in Kaduna State, the El-Rufai led government has said it will shut down telecommunication services in some parts of the state.
The announcement was made by the state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, during a media chat with some local radio stations in the state. He said the actions follow security measures by security agencies to launch a massive attack on bandits who have taken refuge in some parts of the state.
However, the governor noted that the shutdown would not cover the entire state, but only local government areas that share a border with Zamfara and Katsina states, respectively.
According to him, “We have been advised by the military and other security agencies to shut down telecommunication services in certain LGAs, but we are waiting for the security agencies to tell us which specific areas and when.
“But I want the people of Kaduna State to know that if they give us the go-ahead tomorrow, we will shut down tomorrow.
“There is no doubt that bandits and other criminals rely on telecommunication to communicate with their informants as well as with relatives of kidnapped victims so as to demand ransom.”
El-Rufai noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the shutdown after he wrote to him.
“I will not mention the LGAs to be affected but the local governments that are constantly being tormented by bandits know themselves,” he said.
El-Rufai noted that the shutdown of telecommunication services in Zamfara and Katsina states had made some bandits crossed over to neighbouring local government areas in Kaduna to make phone calls and demand ransoms.
He added that the state government had established a task force that will go round the hinterlands to monitor compliance with some of the security measures adopted by the state to tackle banditry and kidnappings. These measures include the closure of some fuel stations and markets to strangulate bandits in the forest.
He also urged residents to identify and report to security agents informants or accomplices of bandits, especially anyone who comes to buy between 20 to 100 loaves of bread.
