Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state has lauded the Federal Government for its commitment in dealing with the security challenges in the state and other parts of the country.
Tambuwal made the commendation on Wednesday, when the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadiq, visited him at the Government House, Sokoto.
He expressed worry that the state witnessed an increase in crime, especially within the communities on its boundaries with Zamfara and Niger Republic.
He said, “On behalf of the entire people of Sokoto state, we appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment and interventions for the safety of lives and property of our people.
“We were under the pressure of security challenges for the past three years from Zamfara axis, leading to the wanton killing of our people in Tabanni Village and the occupation of their land by unknown people.
“We believe that with cordial relationship and working as a team, we will greatly succeed in addressing the situation,” Tambuwal said.
He called for the deployment of military personnel for special operations in the area to contain the phenomenon.
The governor also commended the heads of security formations in the state for their unrelenting efforts to bring the security situation under control.
He said that the efforts would soon begin to yield result, pointing out that the state government had commenced talks with the authorities of Niger Republic on how best to tackle the menace.
Responding, the Chief of Air Staff said the visit by his team was sequel to the Presidential Directives for them to ascertain the security situation in the area.
He said they had earlier visited Zamfara and Katsina states and would be moving to Adamawa from Sokoto state.
He said that the essence of the tour was to add value to the ongoing operations in the area through enhanced air facility movements, fuelling base and other technical arrangements aimed at achieving success.
He said that the operations were critical to ensure greater security in the country and urged more support from other security agencies.
He underscored the need for the security agencies to work as a team to checkmate any attempts to undermine the unity of Nigeria.
Sadiq called on Nigerians to assist the security agencies with useful information that would help them to achieve the desired national objective.
The Chief of Air Staff inspected the parts of the airport designated for their use and also inaugurated a water scheme at 119 Air Force Forward Operation Base in Sokoto. With reports by NAN
