Taraba lawmakers seek tighter security in Wukari, banks shut

PIQUED by armed banditry in Wukari, Taraba State, which has led to the closure of banks, lawmakers in the area have urged tighter security in the community.

They stressed the urgency of establishing a mobile police camp in Wukari and the need to deploy a large number of military personnel to the area.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian yesterday in Jalingo, the state capital, the Majority Whip of the state House of Assembly, Ishaya Daniel Gani, said lawmakers from the area and the southern geo-political zone of the state had unanimously agreed that there was “a need for a mobile police camp in Wukari.”

He said the lawmakers agreed that enough military men should be deployed and that if this was done, “the volatile nature of the area and the activities of hoodlums or unidentified gunmen, would be reduced.”

Gani, who also doubles as the House Committee Chairman on Information, told The Guardian that the lawmakers had collectively agreed to take their plea to the state Governor, Danbaba Suntai, who they believed would in turn, reach out to higher authorities.

Describing Wukari as the second largest council in the state but which was being starved of security personnel “especially policemen,” he said the recent activities of the gunmen would have been foiled “if we have enough policemen on ground there.”

He said the lawmakers were bent on ensuring that normalcy, especially in the areas of business activities, returned to the community.

On the crippled banks, he said: “I thank God you went there the very day the gunmen struck and you saw things by yourself, and you have seen the way our people there are suffering.

“The three major banks there are currently down and that has really crippled business activities. Our people there are not finding it easy. They have to go several kilometers to the neighbouring Benue State for their banks’ transactions.

“I don’t need to tell you what that means. We all know the risk involved in going to such a distance to deposit or make withdrawal. We only hope and pray that the corporate headquarters of these three banks would embark on rebuilding process immediately.

“With the recent attack on Wukari, which is the second largest especially in terms of economy in the state, everything has come to a standstill.  It is a heavy blow to the economy of the council and the state at large.”