The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday, held a closed-door meeting with some northern governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, as later revealed, was convened to discuss the security situation in the 19 northern states.
While addressing the reporters after the meeting, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, said peace was slowly returning to the region as a result of the security roadmap adopted by the federal and state governments to secure the north.
On the meeting with the President, the governor said, “We discussed security, not just for my state but the Northern region, because of the current escalation of insecurity.
“I briefed him and the governor of Niger also briefed him. The President has assured us that action will be taken on what we have discussed about the issue of insecurity.”
The governor assured farmers that they can safely return to their farms this planting season as stability returns.
Matawalle added that Zamfara has been calm for the past four months as security agents continue to ensure things don’t escalate further.
“For now, for the past four days no incident has been recorded by the security agents, but yet we are doing our best and the security are also doing their best to make sure that they tackle all the challenges.
“I assure you that we are on top of the matter and the President has assured all of us that he’s going to take more measures on the issue of insecurity in the northern part of the country.”
Asked if the north is finally secure, Matawalle said, “I can say yes because in the past four months we didn’t have much of this crisis. But the security agents are doing their best now, particularly from the new security architecture that we have adopted. We are having some improvements on the challenges.
“With action and the roadmap that we have drawn, we are doing our best to make sure that farmers will go back to their farms and they will be able to farm.”
Source: Punch