Barely 24 hours after Governor Bello Masari of Katsina raised the alarm on the invasion of the state by armed bandits from neighbouring Zamfara, the state government has expressed doubts if the general elections scheduled to begin with the presidential polls next month will hold in parts of the state because of the precarious security situation across some eight local government areas.

Governor Masari had last Wednesday alerted the nation, at the opening ceremony of an emergency security meeting at the Government House, that armed robbers and kidnappers had literally taken over Katsina State as he consequently tagged the state unsafe for anybody including him.

Briefing reporters on Thursday evening, on some of the deliberations at the meeting, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, warned that unless the security situation is addressed the elections may not hold in at least eight local government areas of the state.

Described as frontline locations controlled by bandits and cattle rustlers, the local government areas are, Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Dan-Musa, Faskari, Sabuwa, Dandume, Kankara and parts of Kafur, Masari’s local government. Jibia shares “porous” boundaries with the Republic of Niger, routes activities of unrepentant smugglers thrive with regular bloody clashes with joint security patrol teams from Nigeria and Niger. Apart from this, the local governments have a common denominator governing them as they are all linked with the Rugu forest, said to be some 2010 square kilometres stretch, starting from the Republic of Niger, through to Katsina and parts of Kaduna State. Comparable only to the dreaded Sambisa forest in Borno State, Rugu forest is reportedly a comfort zone for bandits and other criminal elements who apparently exploit the terrain to remain virtually out of reach of the security forces.

According to Mustapha, “certainly, if the situation continues this way, it is going to affect the elections. If you ask INEC officials to go and conduct the elections in the affected areas they may not be willing to go there. We have to safeguard the places before the elections.”

The expanded security council meeting had traditional rulers, security chiefs in the state, interim local council chairmen from the affected local government areas, village heads and religious leaders, among others in attendance. Mustapha said that the meeting resolved to raise a committee which he heads, to examine all the issues discussed and how to tackle them.

•Excerpted from a Saturday Sun report