Shege ka Fasa, a security outfit created by the Coalition of
Northern Groups, CNG, was launched yesterday to operate as the northern
regional security outfit similar to Amotekun. The CNG said the reason for
setting up the outfit was to complement the police and military in efforts to
deal with the security problem in the region.
The outfit would also carry out specific and
general task that would realign attitude and thinking of the public with the
ideals and objectives of the founding fathers of the region. Presenting what
was described as the northern regional security initiative at Arewa House,
Kaduna, spokesman of the group, Abdulazeez Suleiman, said the security
initiative was subject to ratification by the northern governors. He
said: “For the past 12 years, the North has struggled with
disabling challenges that include dwindling economy, rising poverty and more
worrying, a crippling security situation that has taken a huge toll on lives,
property and the overall cohesion of the region.
“The situation manifested in 2008 in the form of a deadly insurgency from the Northeast and within a short time, spread to other parts of the region and virtually turned the entire region into a battlefield. “While the insurgency raged, other disturbances were created in the region in the form of cattle rustling that pitched northern communities against each other. ‘’A new dimension was introduced to the farmers/herders conflict which gradually deteriorated into an uncontrollable proportion and deepened the artificial rift between communities in the region.” Suleiman said the trend suddenly metamorphosed into deadly armed banditry and kidnapping for ransom which is recycled for arms and drugs.
“This is in addition to another frustrating
trend of the theft and forced trafficking of northern children to other parts
of the country for reasons that are largely dubious. “The culmination of these
security challenges has for the past decade turned the entire region into a
house of horror with violent killings reported on a daily basis, communities
displaced with formal and informal IDP camps spreading across the region. “The situation
today, on most northern highways, innocent travelers are waylaid, robbed and
abducted, towns and villages attacked and sacked by bandits who have created an
atmosphere of palpable fear across the region,” he stated.
