He added that the set-up of the bandits and the structure of their leadership make negotiations practically impossible
Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda has alleged that some security personnel and government officials collude with armed non-state actors terrorising many parts of the country.
Katsina is one of the states grappling with deepening security crisis in the country, especially the North West zone.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Radda said poverty is one of the scourges that fuel widespread insecurity in the country.
Radda disclosed that some people in government and operatives of security agencies are actively involved in banditry as it has become a business venture for them.
“Now it has turned into a business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government, some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people,” Radda said in the interview.
This situation, according to him, is partly responsible for the inability of government to end banditry.
He also discountenanced the notion that the security crisis was caused by politics.
”The issue of the hypothesis behind political motive as responsible for banditry is not true,” he said, pointing out that recruitment of youth as bandits, especially in the north, is not difficult.
“With N5,000, N2,000 and N200, you can be able to convince some of these youths to join into this exercise which brings about money,” he said.
Asked if he was willing to negotiate with bandits as part of the strategy to tackle insecurity, the governor said his administration would not negotiate from a “point of weakness.”
He added that the set-up of the bandits and the structure of their leadership make negotiations practically impossible.
He said: “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 followers of the leaders may not necessarily comply with the directives of their leader. So that is what makes negotiation with the bandits a very difficult task,” he said.
“What I said is that I would never go into negotiations with any criminal from the point of weakness.”
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