Security Is a Collective Responsibility, So Help Yourself Masari Urges Katsina Citizenry
2 min read
by Our Correspondent
The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has formally approved a resort to self-help, urging his people to acquire weapons in defence against terror and banditry.
Masari who said it was morally wrong for people to submit meekly to the bandits without any attempt to defend themselves, asserted that security was everybody’s business.
The governor blamed the people’s meek submission for the bandits guts to continue with their heinous activities with murderous frequency, warning that people must change their thinking that security was government’s sole responsibility.
Masari, according to a statement issued to newsmen by his Director-General on Media, Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, stated this in Jibia town Tuesday, August 17th, when he visited to condole with the people over the death of 10 people, crushed on Monday by the operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service.
He assured the people that government was looking into necessary legal steps to seek redress for the families of the deceased, as well as those, who sustained various degrees of injuries, promising that legal experts had already been consulted to advise on the way forward in order to ensure speedy (legal) resolution of the matter.
Masari advised the families of the victims not to accept any secret gesture from the Nigerian Customs Service, stressing that such acceptance would counter government’s efforts to secure justice for the bereaved and injured.
His words; “What Customs operatives are doing is wrong, and therefore unacceptable. Do not succumb to any covert enticement from the customs service, no matter what they offer or promise to do for you.
“Whatever they want to do for you, let it be in the open, not in secret. “If you accept any secret offer, then, you will be truncating government’s efforts to seek justice for you, but if you resist any untoward move, the organisation will then have to rethink its attitude towards its host community”.
