By Miftaudeen Raji
Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State said the bandits are recruiting young people into crime for as low as N500.
Governor Radda made this revelation in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
According to him, poverty is one of the major factors fueling banditry in the country.
He said, “The issue of the hypothesis behind political motive as responsible for banditry is not true.
“Secondly, what also causes the recruitment of under the logistics services for bandits was a result of poverty because surprisingly with N5,000, N2,000, and N500, you can be able to convince some of these youths to join into this exercise which brings about money,” he said.
The governor worried that banditry has become a business venture for some persons including government officials.
He said, “Now it has turned out to be a business venture. A business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government; and some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people.
“These are so many reasons why we are unable to bring banditry to an end.”
Recall that bandits have repeatedly raided rural communities in the north, leaving many killed.
President Bola Tinubu has expressed renewed commitment to taming insecurity, amid calls for negotiations with bandits.
But the Katsina State governor said his government will never negotiate from a “point of weakness”.
“When you understand the kterrain of the forest, and the different camps that we have within those forests… like in Katsina, we have more than 100 different camps that are being led by somebody.
“So, they have many leaders, many camps and if you’re negotiating with camps A and B and don’t negotiate with camps C and D, it will not bring any lasting peace,” he said.
Radda further stated, “Even if you negotiate with the leaders, the other followers of the leaders may not necessarily comply with the directives of their leader.
“So that is what makes the negotiation with the bandits a very difficult task.
What I said is that I would never go into negotiations with any criminal at the point of weakness,” he said.
