Why I ruled out negotiating with bandits – Katsina gov, Radda

• Radda, who advocated for state police, said with the current constitutional arrangement there’s little or nothing the governors can do to tackle insecurity in their domains

Katsina State governor, Mallam Dikko Umaru Radda, has opened up on the security challenges that the state is grappling with.

The governor said negotiating with bandits would only compound the state’s security woes, saying such move was counterproductive.

He disclosed that he did not negotiate with bandits because he did not want the government to look weak to them.

The governor disclosed this in his office on Wednesday when he received a high-powered delegation from the Media Trust Group for discussions on a proposed regional summit on security.

Radda, who advocated for state police, said with the current constitutional arrangement, there’s little or nothing the governors can do to tackle insecurity in their domains as all conventional security agencies are answerable to their bosses, except where there are new arrangements, like the Katsina Community Watch Corps which is helping in tackling insecurity.

“Some people are saying that the only way to solve this problem is through non-kinetic means, through negotiations. I told the National Security Adviser (NSA) that in Katsina, I would not negotiate with bandits because we have done it under the previous administration and it didn’t yield positive results.

“We ended up giving them taxpayers money and they equipped themselves, acquired more weapons and relaunched their attacks on innocent citizens of the state,” he said.

He added “People have voted for us because we promised them that we will bring peace and security and without peace, you cannot achieve anything. It is very disheartening when you go to these affected communities and you see the state of their schools and hospitals, some of which have become bandits’ camps. Do we have to continue like that?

“We can’t fold our arms while some people are killing, maiming and raping our people, because we are not in control of the security architecture. So, we decided that we must have some approaches as leaders to protect our people.

“My first approach in dealing with this problem is that I decided not to negotiate with any bandit, because that will give them a sense of feeling that we are helpless and that we have to abide by their own terms and conditions.”

Radda said his decision to form the community watch corps was paying off as bandits have been pushed back to the fringes of the forest.