Over the weekend, the Kaduna State government began the implementation of new security measures which include shutting down of telecom services in some part parts of the state, in a stated bid to curb increasing insecurity.

In this report, KASSIM OMOMIA X-rays the consequences of the shutdown on the socio-economic life of the people, amid other critical security measures aimed at stopping the menace.

Monday, September 27, 2021 killings of 34 people by armed persons at Madamai, in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State should be enough to warrant tough security measures.
Several residents were also injured in the attack which might have sent signals to the government to look elsewhere for solution for sanity to reign in the state.

Though Governor Nasir el-Rufai confirmed the attack, he also condemned it in all ramifications. He called on security agencies to fish out the perpetrators, but that is now the basis for a call for far reaching approaches to stem the tide of banditry – shutting down telecommunication services in the state – as well as banning several service sectors and diplomacy, all in a bid to curb the growing insecurity in the state.

On Wednesday, September 29, 2021, two days after the Madamai incident, the government announced Federal Government’s permission to shut down telecommunication services in some volatile areas of the state.

The areas, according to the state government, are prone to unending killings.
State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, explained that the new security policy directive was part of the steps to address the current security situation in Kaduna State, as well as neighbouring states in the North-West and North-Central zones, after several meetings held with security agencies to eliminate bandits in their identified hideouts.

“The military and other security forces have been carrying out assaults on the identified locations. The state government is advised that certain measures are now necessary to assist the spirited efforts of these security agencies,“ the commissioner said.

Elucidating the new safety policies, Aruwan said they were in addition to previous imperative measures announced, which residents should comply with.
He revealed that the state government had initially jettisoned the idea of shutting down telecoms network, despite the spike in crimes.

Among the new safety proposals, he said, are: The complete ban on the use of motorcycles (Okada) for commercial or personal purposes for three months in the first instance; ban on possession or wielding of dangerous weapons.

“Tricycles are allowed to operate only from 6 .00am to 7.00pm: All tricycles must remove all curtains. Movement of all tricycles are restricted from dusk till dawn (7.00pm to 6.00am)”.

Others are: “All vehicles used for commercial transport must be painted in yellow and black within 30 days: Vehicles that are part of ride hailing services are to carry yellow and black stripes. “There shall also be no sale of petrol in jerry-cans or other containers in Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Chikun, Igabi, Kachia, Kagarko and Kajuru LGAs.”

Other containment measures previously communicated by the Kaduna State Government, which remained in place, Aruwan emphasised, include: Ban on felling of trees and forestry activities in Birnin Gwari, Giwa Igabi, Chikun, Kachia, Kagarko and Kajuru LGAs: Ban on firewood and charcoal transportation: Prohibition of the transportation of livestock into and out of the state, and cessation of weekly markets in the frontline local government areas of Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Chikun, Igabi, Kajuru and Kawo weekly market of Kaduna North local government.

Though Aruwan, who addressed journalists on the new security actions, said the shutdown took effect from September 30, in some parts of the state identified by security agencies as requiring such measures, checks by ThisNigeria revealed that Kaduna North is left out of the new arrangement.

While it is understandable and instructive that Kaduna joined similar troubled northern states like Zamfara and Sokoto to initiate matching measures to curb banditry and rising insecurity, reports indicated that the new security measures were not meeting desired goals.
Rather, it has further worsened the insecurity and the already bad socio-economic life of the people in the state.

Expectedly, more reports of killings, kidnapping and attacks are still going on in the state, which have led to still socio-economic life since telecoms’ services were interrupted.

A rights activist and founder of Peace Revival and Reconciliation Foundation of Nigeria, a human rights agency under the United Nations, Yohanna Buru, said the killings have even worsened now that there is no communication to reach out and monitor events within the state.
He said life in Kaduna had become more boring, painful and that people are no longer safe, without the means to communicate.

“It is almost everything that is crumbling here in Kaduna,“ he said, pointing out that cutting off communication gadgets, which Kaduna residents and indigenes were used to in carrying out businesses, buy foodstuff and relate with their loved ones, as well as keeping a tab on those in the villages, in times of trouble, had even made things worse for the people.
He revealed that the situation was getting worse, as people no longer know what is coming towards them.

Buru urged the government to adopt better strategies “and do more, instead of shutting down telecoms, because the killings, kidnapping, attacks are still ongoing, without the phones to monitor events”.

Buru revealed that shutting down telecoms and introducing new security plans should have been put in place when banditry and terrorism were at their cradle and not now that they have spread to Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger and heading towards Kano State.

He advised that government must first be sincere and admit to the people that it had failed going forward, “and then, the religious and traditional leaders can come in as a prelude to finding lasting solutions.” Similarly, first female professor of Kaduna State University, Hauwa Yusuf, expressed displeasure over the shutdown, saying that the country is going backwards and almost returning to ground zero.

Speaking to ThisNigeria, she said, “Nigeria is always going backward, back to square one: The shutting down will be worse than not even going into it.”

Prof. Yusuf narrated a recent experience from her Kaduna neighbourhood where a woman collapsed in her room and could not call neighbours to her rescue, but managed to beckon on her little baby to come to her for assistance.

“She managed to send a small baby to me. She was alone with baby, and she could not walk herself. She sent the same baby to call me. I heard someone knock. I couldn’t believe, I decided to check. Behold, I saw the small baby girl from the neighbourhood, who said mummy is calling you.

“When I got there and opened the door, the mother was lying on ground, screaming. All she would have done was to pick her phone and put a call to me or anybody. Imagine what would’ve happened if I was not at home,“Prof Yusuf explained.

She hinted on the precarious network situation, even in areas not designated as being affected, admitting that the only good thing about the shutdow, was that couples are now sitting to talk, even with the children too, “unlike before when everybody will busy browsing, even on the bed without talking to each other”.

But the toll on the economy of the state, is geeitng high as small, medium and big businesses are crashing, according to the spokesman of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State, Abraham Catoh.

Catoh told ThisNigeria that businesses in state are counting unquantifiable losses due to the shutdown of GSM services.
“There is adverse effects on businesses, whether small, big, or medium,” he said, adding however, that the announcement had come in good time.

According to the party chieftain, “every time is a good time, considering the menace of kidnapping and major insecurity in the state.“

Kanu: IPOB calls on Oduduwa republic, Middle belt to join in shutting down businesses

Also reacting from Jos, the Plateau State capital, two Kaduna residents joined in the plea that good results should be achieved from the lockdown of telecom services, irrespective of the timing.

Though she lamented the spate of killings in Southern Kaduna, Blessing Bature argued that they were ready to bear the socio-economic cost of the telecommunication shutdown, provided the measure will get rid of criminal elements.

She said, as a people, the people of Southern Kaduna are tired of hearing reports of their people being killed on a daily basis.
“I commend security operatives and the authorities because the pervading security situation in Kaduna State, especially the southern part, has necessitated the shutting down of all telecommunications services in the state,“ Blessing said.

On his part, Julius Yakubu lauded the state authorities for shutting down the network and called on security operatives to go after bandits and criminals in the state.

Interestingly many stakeholders have described the Kaduna situation with terse adjectival words and phrases, like `Terrible!, Too little, Too late!, but it is expected that the new security arrangement designed by the government will not only improve the situation, but in the long run, stop the menace completely.

This is given that previous and current worrisome security reports released by the Kaduna State government, have indicated that, between January and June alone this year, no less than 545 people have been killed, and 1,723 kidnapped.

The statistics notwithstanding, checks by ThisNigeria show that the new figures of the daily killings and kidnappings from other parts of the state, or the countless number of avoidable deaths from the southern part of the state, as well as the infamous Bethel School kidnap, Madamai massacre, among others, from June till date, may have doubled the figures from the first half of the year.

But a critical stakeholder in the North Peace Initiative, Prof. Yussuf Usman, while cautioning minders of government of the six troubled sates and the top security brass, raised the alarm in excerpts of a video interview made available to ThisNigeria, over the growing number of people being killed in the affected states on a daily basis.

Prof. Usman disclosed that the security operatives fighting bandits in Kaduna and the other five states notorious for the menace are fighting a war without understanding the language of the enemies.

He referred to a study conducted by Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufai, tilted ‘I am a bandit’, where it revealed that there are 120 gangs of bandits in the six states, with each gang carrying 500 Ak 47 rifles, totalling 60,000 AK47 rifles in the hands of bandits in the affected states.

He recommended that the government and top military leaders should engage Dr. Rufai to assist the affected states with expertise to stop the menace once and for all.

According to him, the military were doing temporary relief, as each time they attacked, the bandits often retreated into the forest, spill into other states, and later return to exert revenge on the people.

He warned that banditry cannot be solved by only the military alone, but rather, it is a very vital part that everybody needs to carry.