The Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, says the majority of bandits operating in the state are not strangers but people from within the communities.
Governor Radda made this statement on Tuesday while speaking about his government’s efforts to tackle insecurity, especially banditry and other vices.
“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,” Radda said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
According to him, the security situation pushed his government to establish a local outfit to help in the fight against the menace.
Radda said the decision was hinged on the fact that the locals had a better understanding of the terrain in their area and were thus able to provide the much-needed support.
“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,” the Katsina governor said on the breakfast show.
“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,” he added.
In Katsina, we created our own security outfit to support existing security by using locals who know the terrain. Most of the bandits are not strangers. About 90% of them are from our communities. We know their fathers, we know their grandfathers. we are living with them.… pic.twitter.com/QcYSh1OHqv
— Channels Television (@channelstv) July 8, 2025
According to the governor, development cannot take place in any area without adequate security.
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Opposition Coalition
Governor Radda, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), also weighed in on the newly formed coalition, which adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform.
Like several other leading members of the APC, the governor of the North-West state accused those behind the coalition of being frustrated and fighting for their selfish interests.
“Let’s be realistic. Let’s tell ourselves the truth. The time for deceiving Nigerians is over. Who was not in the government in the last regime? Who is not in government? We know the track record of everyone,” Radda said, asking the group to tell Nigerians its agenda ahead of the next elections.
“We know what they have done when they were in government, and they are now crying and shouting because they are outside of the government,” he added.
The ADC began the platform for the opposition coalition after months of talks.
Some members of the group include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, and a former Senate President, David Mark, among others.
