Community members helping bandits with food, information in Katsina, says commissioner

Nasir Mu’azu, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs in Katsina, says bandit attacks in the state are being fuelled by informants and community members who supply food and other items to criminals in the forests.

While briefing journalists on the security situation in the state on Thursday, the commissioner said some members of the affected communities serve as informants to the criminals or provide them with their needs at exorbitant prices.

He said the connivance between the bandits and community members is making it difficult for the government and security operatives to address the challenges in the affected areas.

“In one of the communities affected by the insecurity, a man was found to be selling a bottle of Coca-Cola for N3,000; another sold fuel for N5,000 per litre to the bandits,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“Some members of the communities provide.”

Mu’azu said some community members often connive with bandits to abduct their targeted victims, including their family members.

“In another case, we found a man who connived with bandits to abduct his biological father, who had diabetes,” he said.

“When the bandits brought him to their hideout, they had already reserved diabetic tablets for his daily consumption.

“The sum of N30 million was paid as ransom for the man, and N8 million was given to the man for compromising and allowing his father to be abducted.”

He also said informants were known for alerting bandits whenever Nigeria Air Force (NAF) jets left the airport to bomb their hideouts.

The commissioner said tackling insecurity in the state can only be achieved with cooperation from affected communities.

He said the state government has made headway in several councils in tackling insecurity using kinetic measures but noted that non-kinetic approaches are equally important to ensure a lasting solution.

Mu’azu called on the public to come forward and provide sensitive information that would lead to viable solutions in addressing insecurity.