Residents of villages along Katsina-Kankara road, have raised alarm over the lingering bandits’ attacks and incessant kidnapping in the area attributing it to poor condition of the road along the axis.
The residents of the area who raised the alarm in an interview with newsmen in Katsina on Monday, appealed to government to urgently come to their aid.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 170 kilometer Katsina-Kankara road, which its rehabilitation was earlier awarded, was later revoked shortly after the commencement of the project.
Dan-Gambo Faruku, a resident of Burdugau village, narrated how kidnapping and armed banditry have worsened due to the cancellation of the road project.
“As you can see, this road has been scrapped as reconstruction has commenced, but from the time the project was stopped to now, too many people have been abducted and so many villages have been raided or attacked by bandits.
“More than 50 villages have been attacked between Burdugau, Yargoje, Kuka-sheka, Danmarke and Kankara.
“Because the road has been closed, security agencies cannot come to our aid during these attacks.
“Similarly, because vehicles have stopped plying the road, the area is too quiet, that is why bandits attack us at any time of the day,” he groaned.
A commercial vehicle driver, Haruna Abdu, lamented that despite the high cost of fuel, drivers have to go round through longer routes when traveling to Katsina.
“For drivers coming from Funtua or Zaria, the road through Kankara is the shortest route to Katsina, but the road construction project has been halted midway.
“Now, we have to go round through Musawa or through Gidan Mutum Daya when going to Katsina.
“With the high cost of fuel, both commercial and private car owners go through a lot of trouble and spend too much money on fuel to get to Katsina”, Abdu said.
Meanwhile, Civil Society Organizations in Katsina State have also condemned the decision of Gov. Dikko Radda to cancel the ongoing construction of the road for what they described as political reasons.
Mr Jamilu Aliyu-Charanchi, the State Chairman of the Coalition of Northern Groups, described the stoppage of the road project as unfortunate.
“This road is too important for anyone to play politics with its construction. People of Katsina have since the commencement of the project, been rejoicing that President Bola Tinubu has awarded this contract.
“In the past, we suffered from the unfulfilled promises of the previous administrations that failed to reconstruct this very important road, together with that of Katsina-Kano.
“We were impressed by the way President Tinubu then, just a few months into his tenure, awarded the contract, which links seven Local Government Areas of the state.
“However, we are very disappointed to hear that some top politicians from the state plotted to revoke the contract, it is indeed very disappointing and shameful.
“They are unnecessarily playing politics with the development of the people that voted them into office to protect their interest”, Aliyu-Charanchi regretted.
Malam Aliyu Yantumaki from Danmusa local government area was among those that expressed worry over the likelihood for more delay in re-awarding the contract for the construction of the road.
“A lot of bureaucracy and delay is involved in awarding and releasing funds for this kind of project, it is 170km long, how long will it take to re-award the contract?
“It might take many years, or probably the project will never see the light of the day,” Yantumaki lamented.
Meanwhile, Gov. Dikko Radda had at the flag off of the distribution of rice assistance from the Federal Government, explained how he met President Tinubu to make a case for various federal road projects in the state. (NAN)
