Masari

Femi Adi, Kaduna

After four separate meetings in Kaduna over activities of cow rustlers and armed robbers, governors of seven northern states that border the Kamuku forest on Saturday met in Kaduna to review operations of joint security combing of the dreaded forest.

The meeting which was held behind closed doors , was attended by governors of Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna ,Sokoto, Zamfara ,Kano and Niger states.

Fielding question from journalists shortly after the meeting which lasted for four hours , Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, who spoke on behalf of the governors said the essence of the meeting is to appraise the security situation concerning cattle rustling in the zone and other activities going on in Kamuku forest.

According to him, the governors have reviewed operations within the areas and are satisfied with the level of operations carried out by the security agencies mandated to comb the forest.

” I think we have made tremendous achievements, considering the number of stolen animals that were recovered from the forest”, Masari said .

However, he disclosed that as at today, over 30,000 cattle have been recovered across the states bordering the forest. Stressing, “As you can see, now the activities of the rustlers have reduced much. We are expecting that we can sustain this.”

On the issue of kidnapping, Masari noted that the kidnapping is a fall out of the fight against rustlers, who may have decided to go into kidnapping since they have been blocked from stealing cattle.

Meanwhile , he urged members of the public to help provide information about activities of criminal element around communities that border the forest.