Kaduna govt lifts 2-month ban on mobile phone services despite continued kidnapping

Kaduna state government has lifted a two-month-old ban on mobile phone operators.

The state government had asked telecommunications firms to suspend their services in the state from September 30, to check the activities of bandits and kidnappers.

Despite the increasing attacks on highways, the Kaduna state government lifted the ban on Friday.

It however said other measures initiated to tackle banditry like the ban on motorcycles, weekly markets, selling of fuel in kegs would remain in force.

Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who made the announcement, said the agency in charge of telecommunications had been directed to lift the ban.

On Sunday, an attack by gunmen on the Kaduna-Abuja highway led to the death of Sagir Hamida, a former Zamfara governorship aspirant, while several travelers were abducted.

Barely 24 hours after Sunday’s attack by bandits on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, the bandits reportedly stuck again on Monday and abducted an unspecified number of travelers on the highway.