SOKOTO State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to order the suspension of blockade of telecommunication services in the state.
He made this known when receiving governors from the North under the aegis of the North-East Governors Forum (NEGF), who paid a condolence visit to the state over last week’s attack by bandits that killed 43 persons.
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The governors were represented by Governors of Borno and Gombe states, Prof. Babagana Aymara Zulum and Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, respectively.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser Media and Publicity Muhammad Bello, Tambuwal said he had “formally written” to Buhari to lift the blockade in 14 local government areas of the state.
According to the statement, the decision resulted from an enlarged security council meeting after bandits attacked Goronyo Market in the state and killed scores.
Tambuwal said the call became necessary because security agents in the state complained that the outage was negatively affecting their operations.
He said the state government had forwarded a letter to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy to review the blockade.
The federal and some state governments in the North namely Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Kaduna, and Kebbi, had recently agreed to shut down communication services to enable security agencies track bandits and other criminals who destroyed lives and property in the region.
Despite the shutdown, many of the criminals still operate freely.
A youth corps member Jenifer Lorliam posted to Kebbi State, was kidnapped with her colleague by terrorists on Tuesday.
Her kidnappers reportedly bypassed the blockade and contacted her family to negotiate a ransom.
Reports claim she remains with her captors, who has demanded four million naira as ransome for her and her colleague.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org