Banditry: Masari Defends Asking Katsina Residents To Carry Arms

Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State has defended his call for residents living in towns hit by bandit terrorists to carry weapons and defend themselves.

In an interview aired on Nagarta Radio on Monday, governor Masari said the self-defence call was necessary after bandits terrorists continue to kill innocent citizens.

Masari stated that he won’t allow bandits to continue killing them unnecessarily since there are no security personnel to guard their communities.

He said that the state government tried its best to reach an agreement with the bandits in the past but failed, adding that it will continue to do its best to secure the people of the state.

He said: “We tried to reach an agreement with bandits in the past but It failed because we discovered that the bandits groups lack a central leader among them. There was no single leader to caution them because they are not fighting a particular ideological cause rather than to steal. They are groups of kidnappers and bandits most times in a group you find not less than 10 members scattered in the forest.

“We also know that there are not enough security personnel, how many soldiers are there in Katsina and this is because this insecurity affected virtually all states of the federation. This compounded the problem and People can’t not fold their hands and watch being killed. If they abandon their villages where will they go and when will the killings end?

“It’s very important for the people to rise up and support the government effort. Apart from the money we are spending on security, hardly a day passes by without a person being killed or kidnapped. No single day, although the situation is not as bad as it was last year.

“We thank God for that but normalcy has not yet completely returned because just a few days ago about 10 people were killed in a village, how can you as a leader be okay with this situation?”