Governor Dikko Umar Radda of Katsina State has vowed to deal ruthlessly with bandits who have made life uncomfortable for residents of the state. To this end the governor has approved the establishment of security outfit, Community Watch Corps in the state.
The governor said the initiative, which has been endorsed by the state House of Assembly, is to support the efforts of other security agencies in the state to rid the state of every form of criminal element
Governor Umar Radda said he will not be deterred by the several death threats he had received from the bandits, and vowed to make the state uncomfortable for them
He said “we cannot fold our arms and say we will not protect ourselves because we don’t have the sophisticated arms that these bandits have. We have the numbers; we have the zeal and the determination; and you should remember, if they are going for any outing, it is just like the way it was done in Borno through the Civilian JTF.
They will be covered by the police and the military, who are heavily armed.
In recent weeks, residents of the state as well as travellers passing through the affected areas in Katsina State, had come under incessant attacks from bandits, resulting in killings, maiming, rape, cattle rustling and kidnap.
The situation is a break from what was seen in the past few months when the residents witnessed a significant cessation of hostilities in the affected LGAs which include Batsari, Jibia, Faskari, Safana, Kankara, Sabuwa, Danmusa, Dandume, Dutsinma, Kurfi and Batagarawa.
The increase in attacks seemed to have gone even worse after the state governor, Mallam Dikko Umaru Radda, had ruled out the possibility of negotiating with the bandits in the state.
To prove his commitment in the fight against banditry, the Governor, also threatened to deal ruthlessly with any commissioner, traditional ruler or members of his cabinet caught aiding and abetting banditry in 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.”
Katsina is one of the states in North-West plagued by activities of bandits, a group of loosely organised armed gangs reported to have well over 120 factions in the region.