Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has called on his supporters and the people of the state to exercise some measure of restraint ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing fixed for Wednesday.
He also raised the alarm over the influx of strange faces already generating tension, particularly around the Keffi Local Government Area.
Daily Trust reports that Governor Sule had recently filed an appeal challenging the judgement of the gubernatorial election petition tribunal that ruled in favour of David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Presiding over an expanded security meeting at the Government House on Monday, the Governor while appreciating the people of the state and tolerance shown by some politicians during and after the tribunal judgement, however, urged for more restraint ahead of the Appeal Court hearing.
He said, “Let me also use the opportunity to commend the good people of Nasarawa State and the tolerance of several politicians, especially during and after the tribunal judgement. I want to thank you sincerely for the maturity some have shown during that period.
“I want to also use the opportunity to call on the good people of Nasarawa State and also our leaders in particular, security agencies to continue to show that wisdom, especially with the hearing that is coming on the 15th and the subsequent judgement that would follow at the Appeal Court.”
The governor explained that part of the reasons for convening the expanded security meeting was to deliberate on the unfolding regular attacks on farmers by suspected herders, with such assaults recorded in six local government areas namely; Nasarawa, Doma, Akwanga, Keana, Obi and Awe.
“There is also, from what we have been able to gather, some level of influx of certain strangers that generate tension, especially around Keffi Local Government Area. We also had the opportunity to discover some criminal hideouts at the riverside in Karu Local Government Area. We also have information on the lodging of some suspected drug peddlers in certain hotels, as well as what they call sleeper cells in Nasarawa, Taraba, Kaduna, created by terrorist gangs,” Governor Sule added.
Also, as part of the reasons for the meeting, the Governor expressed willingness to fall back on the working relationship with traditional rulers towards ensuring security at the grassroots.
“Part of the reasons for this meeting is to appeal to traditional rulers to resume the engagement of the local vigilante groups as they did in the past, which has yielded positive results. We have relaxed on that, mostly on the part of government. We are going back to engage all those security groups to work with our people,” he added.
Governor Sule used the opportunity of the meeting to commend security agencies operating in the state for the maintenance of peace, law, and order during this difficult period.
He equally commended them for the efforts that they put in place towards the rescue operations for several kidnapping victims in the state.
The head of tertiary institutions in the state also attended the meeting as part of efforts to address the incidents of kidnappings around tertiary institutions
