Governor Nasir El-Rufai says weekly markets shut down in Kaduna is not an attempt to inflict hardship on the residents but to protect the public from bandits.

“We are not imposing hardship on certain people, but they can see the benefits of the actions we have taken. We got good suggestions from stakeholders, which would be used to modify some of our policies. It has been a very rich and engaging conversation,“ Mr El-Rufai explained.

He stated this at the weekend in a meeting with stakeholders on insecurity held at the Murtala Square Kaduna.

The Kaduna governor said the meeting was to brief stakeholders on the security challenges, noting that security forces have been successful due to reduced security breaches.

The governor said the shutdown of some weekly markets and the regulation of the activities of motorcyclists would be renewed for another one month.

The governor added that some of Kaduna’s urban renewal projects were at an advanced stage, disclosing that at the end of the month, President Muhammadu Buhari would inaugurate them.

He promised that some of the other projects would be completed before the end of his tenure.

Mr El-Rufai said his administration was particularly pleased with the support clerics give the Religious Preaching Regulatory Council.

The council, he said, was established to ensure that clerics are committed to peace in their preaching and sermons.

He assured the stakeholders that several social protection programmes had been introduced by the federal and the state governments to reduce the hardship being faced by Nigerians. He pledged to continue to introduce new ones to cover all Kaduna residents.

At the meeting, the governor also announced new administrators for Birnin Gwari and Jaba local government councils.

The officials of security agencies operating in the state also briefed the stakeholders on the efforts and actions to curtail security challenges.

(NAN)