On Friday, Dikko Radda, the governor of Katsina State, warned to take severe measures against any commissioner, traditional leader, or cabinet officials found to be encouraging banditry within the state.
Even if the battle against insurgency is a never-ending hydra-headed monster, Radda emphasized that he will not bargain with any bandit or criminal organization.
One of the states in the North West affected by bandit activity is Katsina. Bandits are armed groups that are reportedly poorly organized, with over 120 factions in the area.
During a media briefing in the Transcorp Hilton, the governor informed reporters that continued efforts are being made to stop their invasions into the state.
He said, “As I speak to you, there are some traditional rulers that have been identified and those ones are already under scrutiny. We are not sparing anybody. I’m telling you that even my commissioners or anybody found to be involved in any criminal activity won’t be spared.
“We are talking about the lives of Katsina people, not one single individual. No single individual is more important than 10 million people, especially the lives of innocent persons in the village. We are trying as much as possible to see how we can gather a lot of information, together with the intelligence we are getting from the DSS so we can arrest and prosecute those found wanting.
“Since I became governor, there is no single day I don’t receive a report of one kidnapping or people being killed and all sorts. This has been disturbing me. Sometimes it is difficult to open my phone because I knew what I would be confronted with.”
He added that he had recruited at least 1,500 Community Watch Officers drawn from the eight frontline local governments to join the fight against insecurity in the state.
Radda said aside from giving intelligence, the initiative of local security outfits was part of measures to empower the residents to defend themselves against terrorist attacks.
According to him, the state has spent well over N7bn to procure armoured personnel carriers, 65 Hilux vehicles, 700 motorcycles and security gadgets for the Community Watch Corps Officers.
“The corps officers know the locations and whereabouts of these people. Many of them witnessed the killings of their parents and how some of their sisters were raped. So they have more courage to do the job. There are also intelligent units within the corps that even the members don’t know. The reason for setting it up is to check the excesses of the community security corps and to also gather critical information.
“We have therefore come up with various committees at the state, local governments, districts and ward level. The committees must verify people renting or selling their houses and who is leasing or buying them. This is to ensure we don’t harbour criminals within the communities. As it stands today, anybody cannot just go and rent the house as he likes, whether we know him or not. Most of the bandit leaders don’t live in the bush.
“They live in our cities because it is peaceful. They will come and buy houses, and keep their wives and children. Then they will go to the bush to commit their act and come back. So if we have this ‘know your neighbour’ approach in place, it is going to help a lot in reducing the incidence of criminalities in our society,” he noted.