Dare Babalola
No fewer than 1,300 political thugs have been granted amnesty by the Kano State Government.
Governor Abba Yusuf made the commitment on Monday at a one-day interface with cluster leaders of the repentant youths under the Safe Corridor Project being anchored by the state Ministry of Information
According to the government, the political thugs have agreed to surrender their arms and shun violence and criminal tendencies frustrating peace in the city.
Governor Yusuf also disclosed plans by his government to rehabilitate the repentant youth and reintegrate them into society through various social empowerment programs that will make them self-reliant.
The governor, who was represented by his Commissioner for Information, Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim Waiya, expressed sadness over the negative effects of the group on several youths in the state.
Noting that the non-kinetic approach was designed to assuage the dangerous trend in Kano, the governor added that the Safe Corridor program is an independent initiative developed to address the rising challenges of insecurity and youth restiveness in Kano.
He explained, “The second stage of the implementation of the project is the interface with the different cluster leaders of different gangs of political thugs who have repented, surrendered, agreed to surrender to authority to disarm themselves and also at the same time surrender themselves for refinement and rehabilitation.
“This is exactly what we are doing and it has been done at the behest of His Excellency because he is the one who has determined to address this and he has taken this as a very serious project that he really wants to address these challenges of insecurity around the city and he felt that the only way he could do this is by empowering these youth after disarming them.
“And today, like I say, it’s an interface and critical stakeholders, especially the implementing partners, are all here — the NDLEA, the police, the elders, some selected elders in the state and other relevant authorities. They are all here and you all heard from them, their own commitment to support the project.”
