Katsina State government has urged communities residing in flashpoints in the state to cooperate with security agencies in the ongoing fight against banditry and kidnapping.
The Acting Governor of the state, Alhaji Faruk Jobe, made the call after an emergency security review meeting held at the Government House in Katsina.
Jobe said the meeting was convened to reassess the state’s security architecture to create more effective synergy between security agencies in combat, surveillance, and information sharing to better prosecute the war against banditry.
The Deputy Governor said in terms of military hardware, Katsina State is the most equipped in the northwest zone, with 43 Armoured Personnel Carriers, surveillance and combat equipment, and full commitment by officers and men of the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Police, DSS vigilante, hunters, and the state Community Watch Corps.
Describing the recent attack at Unguwar Mantau in Malumfashi Local Government Area as barbaric and cowardly, the deputy governor condoled with the people of the area and assured them that the perpetrators would be tracked down and made to face the wrath of the law.
“We sympathize with the people of Unguwar Mantau over this barbaric and cowardly act. It was cowardly because the bandits could not face the armed personnel deployed to the war front.
“They chose soft targets—unarmed civilians while they were praying in the mosque, and women and children while they were sleeping in the comfort of their homes. Only animals do that. Most of the kidnapped people that were rescued were women and little children, including nursing mothers with their babies.
“We will not rest on our oars until banditry is totally defeated in the state, but we need maximum cooperation from the communities, particularly in the area of information sharing. Our troops cannot operate alone; they need cooperation from the communities,” Jobe said.
Meanwhile, the Katsina State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Muazu Danmusa, has accused communities residing in areas being haunted by bandits of not cooperating with security agencies in the ongoing fight against bandits in the state.
Briefing newsmen after an emergency security review meeting held at the Government House in Katsina, Danmusa alleged that there was a high number of informants who reside within the communities, noting that residents were unwilling to alert security agencies of impending attacks by bandits.
He noted that the state government provides material and moral support to security agencies, including the provision of one-fifth of the Armoured Personnel Carriers deployed to the forests at the frontlines.
He appealed to members of communities in the frontline and vulnerable local government areas in the state to cooperate with security agencies in their quest to defeat the bandits.
Isma’il Adamu
