90% of bandits are locals, not outsiders – Gov Radda

Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, has revealed that the vast majority of bandits wreaking havoc in the state are not strangers or foreign invaders, but rather individuals from within the communities they terrorize.

Speaking on the growing insecurity in the region, Governor Radda stated that about 90 percent of those involved in banditry across Katsina are locals, contradicting the widely held belief that the state’s security challenges are largely the work of outsiders.

“These boys know the terrain better, they know those people better.

“Most of the perpetrators of banditry are from our own area. They are not aliens. Ninety-something percent of them, we know their fathers, their grandfathers, and they are living with us,” the governor said on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television.

According to Radda, insecurity remains a major obstacle to meaningful development in Katsina.

He said while governors serve as security chiefs in their states, the army and police operate independently, and to bolster security efforts, the state created a local outfit composed of youths drawn from areas affected by banditry.

While reiterating the importance of involving locals in the fight against banditry, he said: “So this situation requires local involvement, and that was why we created this outfit, so that people at the local level can provide us with information.

“They can lead the fight to the enclaves of the bandits because they know the terrain better, and they can fish out informants living among us, giving information to the bandits and those that provide logistic support to the bandits. Without unbundling that, you would not be able to fight insecurity successfully.”