A dilapidated, mud-built police outpost in Garunguɗinya, Babura Local Government Area of Jigawa State, is currently calling for attention as infrastructural deficit plagues security outposts in the North-West zone.
The mud structure, which currently serves a population of 4000 residents and nine surrounding villages, is the place where suspects arrested for banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery, are held before their transfer to larger police divisions.
Notably, Babura is the hometown and local government area of the immediate past Minister of Defence and former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar.
The state of the police station has sparked sharp reactions from residents, coming on the heels of recent revelations regarding the spending priorities of the newly established North West Development Commission.
The Senate Committee on Regional Development, chaired by Senator Babangida Hussaini, had during an investigative hearing questioned the NWDC over its financial records.
Documents presented to the panel showed that out of ₦1.19billion expended by the commission since its inception, a staggering ₦943million — representing nearly 79 per cent of the total expenditure—was channelled entirely into board allowances.
While the Chairman of the NWDC Governing Board, Abdullahi Lawal, defended the expenditure before lawmakers, stating that the funds covered seven statutory meetings and the drafting of 63 regulatory frameworks in compliance with the NWDC Act of 2024, stakeholders have criticized the heavy administrative costs.
Local residents and public policy analysts have expressed concern that while security personnel at the grassroots are left to operate from collapsing, non-fortified structures, hundreds of millions are being prioritized for internal boardroom logistics.
Efforts to reach the Jigawa State Police Command Public Relations Officer for comments on any immediate plans to remodel the Garunguɗinya outpost were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
