FG INITIATES NON-KINETIC MEASURES TO EXTIRPATE BANDITRY AND KIDNAPPING - MINISTER, MALAGI

FG INITIATES NON-KINETIC MEASURES TO EXTIRPATE BANDITRY AND KIDNAPPING - MINISTER.

As part of the Federal Government's efforts to halt the incessant cases of banditry and kidnapping, an initiative tagged FULAKO has been introduced to provide basic needs for communities prone to these security challenges.

The Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alh Mohammed Idris, FNIPR, stated this at the Central Council Meeting of the Jama'atu Nasirl Islam [JNI] in Minna, the Niger State capital.

The Minister, conveying the condolences of the President to the President General of [JNI] Alh Muhammad Sa'ad Abukar and the entire Muslim ummah, said, "The president commiserates, sympathizes, and empathizes with the people and Government of Kaduna State, especially the inhabitants of Tudun Biri where the unfortunate incident of bombing took place."

The Minister then announced that President Tinubu had approved the commencement of the FULAKO Initiative, in which the Federal Government will build houses, clinics, schools, veterinary hospitals, empowerment initiatives, and solar-powered energy, among others, as part of the non-kinetic response to the problems of banditry and kidnapping in the North.

The Minister added that the FULAKO Initiative is President Tinubu's unique humanitarian response to cushion the effect of banditry in some communities in Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, and Benue States.

The Minister further called on the President General of JNI, His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, and other prominent Muslim leaders to help calm frayed nerves in the aftermath of the unfortunate Tudun Biri incident.

The Minister also added that the new initiative is part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President, which seeks to reform the economy, guarantee national security, achieve food security, unlock our natural resources' potential, build infrastructure with a focus on health and social investment, as well as accelerate diversification and innovation and improve good governance delivery.

Other measures announced by the Minister include the 75 billion Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme and a Value Charter that will redefine our core values as Nigerians.

Earlier in his remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alh Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, admonished the Muslim Ummah to take the unfortunate drone attack as an act of Allah, and JNI will ensure that the victims get justice. In his welcome address, the Governor of Niger State, Umaru Mohammed Bago, represented by the Deputy Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, called on JNI to sustain the age-long mandate of the organization to unite and promote Islamic scholarship while assuring them of the state government's commitment to providing an enabling environment for peaceful co-existence.

Other speakers at the event included the Director-General of the National Hajj Commission, the guest speaker, Prof Khalifa Dikwa of the University of Maiduguri, among others.

On the entourage of the Minister was the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mal Jibrin Baba Ndace, and other staff of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.