Banditry Now ‘Business Venture’ For Some Security, Govt Officials—Radda
Dikko Radda, the governor of Katsina State, has charged some government and security officers with supporting banditry, which he claims has now evolved into a “business venture”.
“Now it appears to be a commercial endeavour. A business endeavour for the criminals, certain government officials, some members of security agencies, and some individuals in charge of the daily operations of their citizens, he declared on Friday. “There are a tonne of reasons why banditry is unabated.”
Locally referred to as bandits, criminal bands have often raided locations in the past few years, primarily in remote northern regions, kidnapping and killing many people.
Among President Bola Tinubu’s top concerns is lowering insecurity. Politics is credited by many with the instability. But poverty and injustice are the main causes, according to Governor Radda.
“The issue of the hypothesis behind political motives as responsible for banditry is not true,” declared the governor of Katsina State.
He said that for as low as N500, banditry recruits a lot of young people in the north.
Several northern governors were visiting the US as part of initiatives to address the region’s insecurity. According to Radda, they were heavily criticised for the meeting and many people questioned why it wasn’t held in Nigeria.
“The United States Institute of Peace called the meeting, not the governors of the northern states who were chosen. It was them that extended the invitation and provided the gathering space. “They invited us to join them in order to devise enduring solutions for the issues impacting our community,” he said.
Governor Radda said the trip provided the governors with new perspectives on the insecurity in the area.
“In Washington, D.C., we had a symposium with the US Institute of Peace where ten governors got together to talk about solutions to the insecurity that afflicts our people and is a major issue for the subnationals. They picked the governors with great care from banditry and kidnapping-affected regions,” he said.
“We all sat for three days and we were able to interact with all stakeholders that are involved in bringing about lasting peace and security globally,” the Katsina governor stated.