TheCable

Dikko Radda, governor of Katsina, says banditry has become a business venture for some government officials and security personnel.

The governor spoke on Friday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.

Radda said poverty has made recruitment into banditry easy, adding that as little as N500 is enough to lure youths.

He said negotiating with bandits is not an efficient approach to addressing the menace of banditry.

“It is a business venture for the criminals and a business venture for some people who are in government and some people who are in the security outfits and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people,” he said.

“These are some of the reasons why we are unable to bring an end to the issue of banditry.

“When you understand the terrain 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.

“Even if you negotiate with the leaders, the other leaders may not necessarily comply with the directives of the leader. So that is what makes the negotiation very difficult. That is why I said I would never go into negotiations with any criminal at the point of weakness.”

Commenting on the recent trip to the US by some northern governors, Radda said it was to collaborate and find a lasting solution to the problem of banditry.

“We have been on this insecurity for the last 10 years, and we have been doing the same thing and there was no sign of the end of this problem that is affecting our country and our sub-nationals in particular,” the governor said.

“So we need to hear from anybody willing to offer any assistance that may help us to look into the issues and bring about a lasting solution to this problem of insecurity.”