The Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security, Nasir Mu’azu, has blamed residents of local communities for playing a major role in the ongoing banditry and kidnapping crisis in the state.
Speaking to journalists shortly after a joint security meeting at the Government House in Katsina on Thursday, Mu’azu said evidence gathered by security operatives points to the involvement of locals who aid and profit from the activities of armed groups.
“Some individuals in our communities are trading with the bandits for money. They sell items such as fuel to the hoodlums for N5,000 per litre, while a bottle of soft drink goes for about N3,000,” the commissioner said.
He said the persistent insecurity is not due to a lack of manpower alone but largely due to the presence of informants within the communities.
“Why I said this, these bandits do not know where to buy all these things from, but some members of the communities who own shops sell their products to them at exorbitant prices. It is difficult to get their cooperation in a bid to address the security challenge,” Mu’azu explained.
“In one of the communities affected by insecurity, a man was found to be selling a bottle of soft drink for N3,000, and another sold fuel for N5,000 per litre to bandits. Drugs that are usually sold for little amounts of money in pharmacies and other shops are sold in the millions of Naira by community members to the bandits,” he added.
Mu’azu also revealed a disturbing case where a man reportedly conspired with criminals to kidnap his own father, who was diabetic.
“In one of the cases we had, we found a man who connived with bandits to abduct his biological father, who was diabetic, for ransom,” he said.
“When the bandits took him to their hideout in the forest, they had already procured diabetic medication for his daily consumption. The total sum of N30 million was paid as ransom for the man, and N8 million was given to the son of the kidnapped man for compromising by allowing his father to be abducted.”
Mu’azu also accused some of the informants of sabotaging military operations by alerting the bandits when air raids are about to take place.
“The informants are known to alert bandits whenever Nigeria Air Force jets leave the airport for an airstrike on bandits’ hideouts, leading to unsuccessful missions,” he said.
While noting that some progress had been made in certain local governments through direct military action, Mu’azu stressed the need for other approaches.
“However, non-kinetic measures are also important to ensure a lasting end to the insecurity,” he said.
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