Katsina Spends N68m On Victims Of Banditry

Katsina State government says it has spent about N68 million on giving medical care to victims of bandit attacks in the state in the last six months.

The senior special assistant to the governor on Victims of Banditry and Internally Displaced Persons tIDPs), Saidu Ibrahim Danja disclosed this in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend in Katsina.

He expressed government’s commitment to the medication of all victims of bandit attacks of any kind in the state.

He added that the government equally disbursed over N120 million to the families of killed security personnel who paid the supreme price while in active service to the nation.

He lamented that many women have been assaulted, kidnapped and released after ransom was paid while some were raped and killed by the bandits who in most cases ransacked their communities and left the people with nothing to take care of themselves.

This he said prompted the government’s decision to offer free medical care to the victims by creating wallet accounts in some major hospitals in the state to settle their medical bills, emphasizing that the medication was also provided to security personnel who suffered gunshots in the fight against bandits.

“The governor has made a smooth transition process to ensure they enjoy free medical care right from primary healthcare centres to specialist facilities like the General Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital and the Federal Teaching Hospital.

“Sometimes they may be taken to Kano due to the severity of the situation; we also made provision for their medical care there. We usually go there to settle all their bills no matter the cost.

“In Kano, Katsina and even at the reference hospitals in Kaduna State where the military people were taken for medical attention, we usually assist them. Though not regularly, we do provide them with some support”, he said