Katsina Government Unveils Empowerment Plan For Repentant Bandits

Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Radda has announced a multi-pronged programme aimed at consolidating peace and discouraging a return to violence among former bandits.

In a statement jointly signed by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Salisu Zango, and the Governor’s Director-General on Media, Maiwada DanMallam, Governor Radda said the state will provide 152 new homes for internally displaced families in Jibia local government area and distribute industrial tools, cattle and business-support packages to repentant fighters.

The statement followed a high-level stakeholders’ closed door meeting in Katsina that brought together elders, royal fathers, religious leaders, former service chiefs and prominent sons and daughters of the state to review security gains, challenges and long-term strategies.

Addressing the gathering, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr. Nasiru Muazu who presented a paper on “The Trend and Dynamics of Banditry, Kidnapping and Cattle Rustling in Katsina State: Community Participation as a Panacea,” traced the roots of insecurity to greed, climate-driven resource conflicts and long-standing social grievances.

Muazu noted that banditry expanded from five to 25 local governments after the collapse of an earlier amnesty programme.

He highlighted the Radda-led administration’s counter-insurgency measures, including training Community Watch Corps, vigilantes and volunteers which were equipped with vehicles, firearms, drones and communication gear.

The commissioner also mentioned the joint operations with the Nigerian Army, the Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) which he noted to have forced many gang leaders to seek peace.

Clarifying misconceptions surrounding the peace initiative, the commissioner stressed that the peace agreements were community-driven, with local leaders mediating directly.

He cited recent accords in Dan Musa, Jibia, Batsari, Kankara, Kurfi and Musawa local government areas as such initiatives at the discretion of the local communities.