Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina, has called on north-west
governors and other stakeholders to accept their responsibility in fighting
banditry in the region.
Masari spoke in Abuja 0n Thursday when he led a delegation
of the North-Western Governor’s Forum on a condolence visit to Aliyu Wamakko,
senator representing Sokoto north.
About 23 travellers were burnt to death when a bus was
attacked by bandits in Gidan Bawa village in Isa LGA of the state on Monday.
The governor said all stakeholders must show commitment to fighting the menace.
“We were in Sokoto
state earlier to sympathise with the government and immediate families of those
who were brutally killed in the name of banditry,” Masari said.
“The issue of banditry in north-western part of the country
is not beyond us. We know the problem and the solutions are something that we
as a people are capable of doing.
“This is provided that all of us take responsibility and
stop the blame game.
“Banditry, especially
our own in the north-western part of the country can easily be dealt with if
all hands are put on deck.
“This is because it has no religious colouration, no ethnic
colouration, it is not ideological. It is simply pure criminality.”
While acknowledging that the police have limitations in
fighting insecurity, Masari said the security agencies require technology to
effectively tackle the challenge.
“We need to know where the bandits are recruited, at what
price are they recruited, all these are issues that are very well known to us,”
he said.
Also speaking, Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state,
said blaming each other would not bring any solution to the security challenge.
“We have seen a lot in this country. The issue started with
cattle rustling that looked so simple and so indigenous. We did not even
investigate it to find out what was its root course,” Ganduje said.
“Cattle rustling has graduated to kidnapping, kidnapping
graduated to banditry while we are fighting Boko haram on the other side.
“We have to break that cycle. Our first challenge is how we
reclaim our forests without being affected by the bandits.
“There must be
planning, there must be data, there must be commitment, there must be timeline
for whatever we are going to do. How far have we involved communities?” he
asked.
“We must go back to the drawing board. The communities need
to be involved, there must be community policing.”
While appreciating the delegation for the visit, Wamakko,
said the approach to the fight against banditry should be modified.
“The peaceful approach we are giving to security matters
will not solve the problem. The fight cannot be done by merely repelling alone,
we have to be on the offensive,” he said.
“We have spoken
enough. What we are to do is to start implementing. No amount of money can
solve this problem until there is determination to take the right and proper
action.
“The federal government and national assembly have made
enough provision in the 2021 budget to security agencies to overcome these
challenges nationwide.”
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