Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has tasked the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja, to commence an in-depth study into the causes of banditry which has caused the state a lot of anguish in the past and recent times.
Tambuwal gave NDC the charge, Monday, when some staff of the college who led participants of its Course 29 on a study tour to the state paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Sokoto.
According to the governor, his administration has “…candid interest in the college and would like to partner with it by providing full sponsorship for it to undertake a study on the causes of banditry and kidnapping in Sokoto state”.
His words: “Let us have recommendations on how to forestall future occurrences of these menaces. We believe the partnership will not only give us the historical evolution of these criminal activities, but with the help and outcome of that study, we should be able to prevent future occurrences,” he added.
He further added that the duo of the problems have “caused us a lot in terms of human lives, property and loss of confidence in our security agencies in the state; which is very monumental.”
He said: “I believe we should not fold our arms and allow that to happen in the future even if we are not here as leaders of the state,” pledging that his administration will implement the recommendations of the study because NDC “is one of the foremost think-tanks in terms of security and defence.”
In his remarks, the NDC’s Director of National and Military Strategy (DNMS) and leader of the college’s Team Four on a study to Sokoto state, Air Commodore Dauda Garba Prayero, said participants at the college had over the years undertook study tours within and outside Nigeria in order to assess contemporary issues affecting national and international security and development.
Air Commodore Prayero added that 97 participants are presently undergoing the course at the college. These comprises 82 Nigerians and 15 international participants.
He said the objectives of the tour is to generate and interrogate viable ideas of promoting science and technology for the forth industrial revolution.
The team leader also explained that, Sokoto state was selected as a result of its giant strides in the educational sector, thus commending the governor for executing various projects geared towards developing education in the state.