Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has defended the northern governors’ trip to the US, saying it was to find lasting solutions to the insecurity ravaging the region.
The governors had come under fire over the recent trip to the US. But Radda said the visit was part of moves to tackle security in the north, explaining that they were invited to the meeting.
“Ten governors were in the United States, Washington D.C and we had a symposium with the United States Institute of Peace so that we can bring about ideas that will end insecurity that is worrying our people and is a major problem to the subnationals and they carefully chose the governors of the places affected by banditry and kidnapping,” he said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“All of us sat for three days and we were able to cross-fertilise ideas and interact with all stakeholders that are involved in bringing about lasting peace and security globally,” the governor said.
Despite criticism over the meeting with many questioning why it was held in the US and not in Nigeria, Radda has defended the trip.
“The meeting was not at the instance of the selected governors of northern states but it was at the instance of the United States Institute of Peace. They were the people who invited us; they hosted us for the meeting. We were invited to sit with them so that we could bring about lasting solutions to the problems that are affecting our people,” he said.
According to Radda, the US trip afforded the governors fresh insights into the security challenges riddling the northern region.
The northern region has in recent years been battling banditry, kidnapping, and a range of security issues.
Hundreds have been abducted and killed over the years since the security challenge heightened.
Several reasons have been attributed to the rising spate of insecurity in the north but Radda has ruled out political undertones.
”The issue of the hypothesis behind political motive as responsible for banditry is not true,” the Katsina State governor said, highlighting injustice and poverty as the root causes of insecurity in the north.
