Niger Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello has declared his administration remains resolute in its efforts to tackle all forms of banditry kidnapping and cattle rustling in the state.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 21 kilometres Suleja-Abuchi-Izom and 21.98 kilometres Farindoki-Old Gawu double-coated surface rural road on Wednesday, Sani- Bello said the economy of the state has dwindled because of insecurity, which has caused havoc on communities across the state.
He stated contrary to observations in several quarters, his administration is making a concerted efforts to secure lives and property,
“We shall continue to pay special attention to the plight of the rural dwellers by ensuring the security of lives and property as well as support our farmers to improve their economic and social activities in the state.
“I am deeply saddened by the increased acts of banditry and kidnapping activities going on in some parts of the state. Let me use this opportunity to assuage the fears of the residents around all the troubled areas that our government is making concerted efforts to tackle insecurity in the whole state. We shall continue to do everything to make the lives of the people safe and valuable.
“I, therefore, urge you all to go about your daily routines with the assurances and readiness of the combined security agencies to secure the vulnerable locations across the state,” he said.
The Governor also assured of its readiness to commit a substantial amount of resources to support security agencies in its effort towards addressing the problem of insecurity across the state.
Sani-Bello said the administration decided to embark on double coat surfacing of some of the roads earlier rehabilitated by the RAMP 2 project to expand and interlink several rural communities with access to basic services for improved socio-economic rural life.
According to him, the overall target is to improve the capacity of the farmers to get the best out of their farms and sell products competitively the facilitate and promote economic growth for the farmers and other rural dwellers across the State.
“We are determined to bring governance close to the people at the grassroots while making it easier for them to move their farm produce to the markets.
“I believe that with the expanded access to motorable roads, we would be reducing the cost of transportation, lifting people out of poverty and minimizing waste of agricultural produce in the state. Farmers who are hitherto faced with difficulties of sourcing and transporting key inputs like seeds or fertilizers to their farms and evacuating their harvests to the local and regional markets will now be relieved”, he noted.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Haliru Jikantoro, said the road network will help to reduce post-harvest losses and increase food security in the state.