Governor Confirms Negotiations With Bandits To End Insecurity Crisis
Governor Confirms Negotiations With Bandits To End Insecurity Crisis
Governor Umar Radda, who had previously distanced his administration from talks with the criminal groups, openly admitted that the truce has already restored stability in some affected areas.
Despite years of killings, displacement, and destruction of livelihoods in Katsina, the state government has confirmed that it is in “active negotiations” with bandits terrorising several frontline communities.
Governor Umar Radda, who had previously distanced his administration from talks with the criminal groups, openly admitted that the truce has already restored stability in some affected areas.
The governor revealed this while unveiling an 18-month European Union-funded project, Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience in Katsina, which is being implemented by the International Organisation for Migration in collaboration with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Mercy Corps.
The project is aimed at fostering peace and socio-economic stability in Katsina and Zamfara states.
According to Radda, “This project is not a top-down intervention. It is community-owned, locally-led and culturally sensitive.”
“From the onset, we have ensured that community voices, especially those of women, youths and persons with disabilities, are central to planning and implementation. So, the state government has already gone far in this.”
The governor further explained that through community-based peace initiatives, his administration has managed to reach a level of stability in some parts of the state.
“I can assure you that due to this locally made community peace initiative, we are able to resolve crises in four of our frontline local governments out of the eight that we already have, and negotiation is going on in two additional frontline local governments.”
Radda painted a grim picture of the havoc already caused by the bandits in Katsina communities, highlighting the heavy price residents have paid for years of violence.
“In Jibia, Batsari, Danmusa, Kankara, Safana, Sabuwa, Faskari, and Dandume Local Governments, our frontline communities, community schools have been closed down, farms abandoned, markets shut down, children have missed education, parents have buried their children, and elders have fled their ancestral homes due to this conflict.”
His comments came after the Chief of Defence Operations, Maj Gen Emeka Onumajuru, clarified that the Nigerian Armed Forces are not part of any arrangement to pay money to bandits operating across the country.
Speaking on Sunrise Daily on Channels Television, Onumajuru said such payments had proven ineffective in addressing insecurity.
“The armed forces of Nigeria do not support the payment of money to criminal groups. The armed forces of Nigeria are not part of that arrangement,” he stated.
According to him, instead of monetary inducements, the military is pursuing a national Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme anchored around Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State for the North-East, and Zamfara State for the North-West.
“However, the armed forces of Nigeria have a DDR programme with other stakeholders, the Ministry of Justice, and the Office of the National Security Advisor for criminals that have shown remorse and want to toe the line for peace, to surrender their weapons, undergo a thorough profiling to ensure the extent of their culpability, and then they are transferred for the DDR programme,” he explained.
He added that the DDR framework provides an alternative for those seeking to renounce criminality.
“The essence of this national framework is for bandits who clearly want another route to leaving criminality. You surrender your weapons, and you are profiled in detail.
“Those who are found really culpable face the law. Now, this is coordinated by the Ministry of Justice. Don’t forget that some of the people were forcibly conscripted, kept in the bust for God knows why.
“Once it is decided that this set of people is not really culpable after a detailed profiling, they are transferred to the DDR centres in Gombe, and they start going through the DDR process,” Onumajuru said.
