For security considerations, Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari ordered the closure of mobile phone commercial charging centers in at least 18 Local Government Areas of the state on Monday.
Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Sabuwa, Dandume, Faskari, Funtua, Bakori, Dandume, Musawa, Matazu, Kurfi, Danja, Kafur, Maiadua, Kaita, and Baure are among the councils affected.
The directive came as the Governor installed members of the monitoring and enforcement committees for the two “Security Challenges Containment Orders” he signed last week.
Sanusi Buba, the state Commissioner of Police, led the committee at the state level, while Divisional Police Officers chaired the committees in the Local Government Areas where commercial charging stations for mobile phones have been ordered to close.
The closure of commercial charging stations, according to Masari, was part of a plan to address security concerns and restore peace in the state.
He suspected the charge centers were enabling the bandits and their accomplices in exchanging important information and sabotaging security measures.
Other actions adopted by the Nigerian Communications Commission, according to the Governor, will also aid in the restoration of normalcy in the affected communities.
According to the Governor, the state committee’s areas of reference include, among other things, monitoring and ensuring compliance with the Compliance order, as well as coordinating the order’s enforcement in the impacted Local Government Areas.
The group was also told to provide the state government with periodic progress reports and to “identify and bring up new concerns for government consideration.”
The Committee’s terms of reference in the impacted local government areas were likewise comparable to the state’s.
In response, CP Sanusi Buba, the state chairman of the committee, stated that with the inauguration of the committee, banditry, abduction, and other crimes in the state will soon be eradicated.
The Police Commissioner vowed that the committees would work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to guarantee that the two executive directives were followed.
Governor Masari had issued what were referred to as Security Challenges Containment Orders last week, in which various security measures were announced in the state.
The Governor issued orders prohibiting commercial vehicles from using the Jibia-Gurbin Baure and Kankara-Sheme roads until further notice.
He also ordered that commercial vehicles operating in the state wear a state-designated color, and that commercial motorcycles and tricycles be restricted from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Katsina, the state capital, and from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in frontline councils.
In some Local Government Areas, fuel sales were also limited to N5,000 per motorist, and trucks and lorries were prohibited from hauling firewood from the forests.
Livestock sales were likewise prohibited in specific markets in some councils, as was interstate cattle transit.