Bandits terrorising Katsina are indigenes | Police, army don’t take orders from governors – Gov Radda

• He disclosed that the nuclear and extended family of those behind the widespread and perennial insecurity in the North West state are known.

Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina state says it is difficult for states to tackle insecurity head-on because the military and the police are not answerable to the governors.

This is even as he said about 90 per cent of those committing acts of terrorism and criminality in the state are indigenes and locals.

He disclosed that the nuclear and extended family of those behind the widespread and perennial insecurity in the North West state are known.

“These boys know the terrain better, they know those people better. Most of the perpetrators of banditry are from our own area. They are not aliens. Ninety-something per cent of them, we know their fathers, their grandfathers, and they are living with us,” the governor said

Speaking on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television, Radda stated that insecurity remains a major impediment to meaningful development in Katsina.

The governor said that while governors serve as security chiefs in their states, the army and police operate independently of them.

He said to bolster security efforts, the state created a local outfit composed of youths drawn from areas affected by banditry.

While reiterating the importance of involving locals in the fight against banditry, he said: “So this situation requires local involvement, and that was why we created this outfit, so that people at the local level can provide us with information.

“They can lead the fight to the enclaves of the bandits because they know the terrain better, and they can fish out informants living among us, giving information to the bandits and those who provide logistic support to the bandits. Without unbundling that, you would not be able to fight insecurity successfully.”