Katsina Security Corps Arrests Alleged Associate Of Bandits Leader Kachalla Linked To Late Maj-Gen Rabe’s ∆bduction
Katsina Security Corps Arrests Alleged Associate Of Bandits Leader Kachalla Linked To Late Maj-Gen Rabe’s Abduction
During the interrogation, Ubaidu identified himself and gave personal details about his background.
The Katsina Community Watch Corps (C-Watch), a local security outfit, has apprehended a man identified as Ubaidu, who allegedly confessed to working with a notorious bandit leader, Muhammadu, popularly known as Kachalla Maha, said to be linked to the abduction of late retired General Rabe Abubakar.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the suspect, who spoke in Hausa during an interrogation at the C-Watch office, admitted to participating in terrorist activities, cattle rustling and attacks on several communities under the command of Muhammadu.
During the interrogation, Ubaidu identified himself and gave personal details about his background.
When asked his name, he responded, “My name is Ubaidu.”
Asked where he was from, he said, “Walah.”
When further asked which local government area he came from, he replied, “Kankia.”
On his age, Ubaidu said, “I am about twenty-seven years old.”
Asked about his ethnic group, he answered, “Hausa,” while he said his religion was Islam.
The interrogator then asked him why he had been brought to the C-Watch office.
“Ubaidu, you are here at the C-Watch office. What offence are you being accused of?” the interrogator asked.
Ubaidu replied, “Terrorism.”
When asked if the allegation against him was true, he answered, “Yes.”
The interrogator pressed further: “Have you engaged in terrorism?”
Again, he answered, “Yes.”
Asked who he carried out the alleged terrorist acts with, Ubaidu named several persons.
“With Jamilu and Buhari,” he said.
When asked to explain further and state where Jamilu was from, Ubaidu replied, “He is from Tudun Lafiya.”
Asked who else was involved, he said, “Buhari.”
Pressed for more names, he added, “There is Umar, and there is Isah.”
When asked where they were from, he responded, “They are from Tudun Lafiya.”
He then mentioned another name, saying, “Then there is Uban Dabbataƙo.”
Asked who Uban Dabbataƙo was, Ubaidu replied, “Muhammadu.”
During the session, the interrogator also sought to establish whether Ubaidu had been tortured or forced into making the confession.
“Ubaidu, were you beaten?” he was asked.
He answered, “No.”
The interrogator continued: “Was anything bad done to you or were you forced to tell the truth?”
Ubaidu replied, “No.”
Asked if he had decided on his own to speak, he answered, “Yes, I decided to speak.”
The questioning then shifted to the operations he allegedly took part in and the locations where they were carried out.
Asked whether Muhammadu had taken him to various places to commit terrorist acts, Ubaidu answered in the affirmative.
According to him, one of the places they attacked was Tsanyawa village.
“Yes, we went to Tsanyawa,” he said.
When asked whether it was Tsanyawa town or Tsanyawa village, he clarified, “Tsanyawa village.”
Asked what happened there, Ubaidu said, “We went there and rustled cattle and attacked people.”
On the number of weapons used during the operation, he said, “About ten.”
Asked the type of weapons, he responded, “AK-47 rifles.”
Video file
He said the group later moved to Sabon Gari Garu, where they also carried out cattle rustling.
“Then we went to Sabon Gari Garu,” he said.
Asked what happened there, he replied, “We rustled cattle there too.”
When asked how many guns they took to Sabon Gari Garu, he said, “Also about ten.”
The interrogator then asked under whose command all the named men were operating.
Ubaidu answered, “Muhammadu.”
Asked which local government area Muhammadu came from, he said, “Muhammadu is from Matazu Local Government Area.”
The interrogator further asked him to list all the places where he had allegedly been taken to carry out acts of terrorism, apart from Sabon Gari Garu.
In response, Ubaidu mentioned Tsaya.
Asked what happened there, he said, “People were shot there too.”
The interrogator asked if he had also been taken to Tsaya, and Ubaidu replied, “Yes.”
Asked if there were any other places, he answered, “Those are the four places.”
The suspect was also asked what led him into the violent group.
“What tempted you into joining this terrorist activity?” the interrogator asked.
Ubaidu replied, “Honestly, it was fate and persuasion. The group lured me and convinced me.”
On killings allegedly carried out during the attacks, Ubaidu said deaths occurred in at least Tsaya and Sabon Gari Garu.
Asked in which of the places people were killed, he said, “Yes, in the places where killings happened, people were killed in Tsaya.”
When asked where else, he answered, “And also in Sabon Gari Garu.”
The interrogator then asked how many people were killed in Sabon Gari Garu.
Ubaidu replied, “In Sabon Gari Garu, we rustled cattle and while we were returning, those ahead of us later told us that two people had been killed.”
Asked to confirm whether two people were killed there, he answered, “Yes.”
However, on the number of persons killed in Tsaya, the suspect said he could not give an exact figure.
“But in Tsaya, honestly, I do not know the number of people killed because many people were killed and I do not know the exact figure,” he said.
Asked once more who he carried out the attacks with and under whose command they operated, Ubaidu maintained that they acted under Muhammadu.
The interrogator then asked him whether he believed what he did was right.
“Ubaidu, do you think what you did was good?”
He answered, “Honestly… no.”
The C-Watch interrogator also sought to know whether the suspect was willing to cooperate with security authorities in tracking Muhammadu.
Asked if he would cooperate so that Muhammadu could be found, Ubaidu replied, “God willing.”
When asked specifically if he was ready to assist the authorities with information on Muhammadu’s whereabouts, he said, “By God’s grace, yes.”
At the end of the interrogation, Ubaidu was asked what he wanted from the authorities.
He replied, “I am asking for justice.”
The arrest comes amid worsening insecurity in parts of Katsina State and the wider North-West, where bandit groups have been linked to mass killings, kidnappings, cattle rustling and attacks on rural communities.
