DUROSINMI MESEKO
“We chose to sign a peace agreement with the bandits to avoid loss of lives and property, but it didn’t yield a positive result. This time around, we will hand it over to security personnel.
“In our efforts to honour the agreement between us, we cancelled all vigilantes and volunteer groups and we allowed them (bandits) to continue with their normal activities in the state”.
Above was the statement credited to the embattled Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari after the collapse of the peace treaty his government signed with the bandits last year.
Indeed, Governor Masari was the first State Governor to sign a peace treaty with bandits in order to rid his State of their menace but little did he know that they would betray the accord.
The situation in Katsina State has become so worrisome to most Nigerians who are daily regaled with the horrific tales of armed bandits in Katsina State. The sheer number of the bandits during any of their murderous raids are so benumbing that you would wonder if there was any security presence left in the State. They attack in a gestapo-like fashion leaving scores and hundreds dead at any particular time.
Only yesterday(Wednesday) ,Nigerians woke up to another murderous outing of the recalcitrant bandits in Katsina State.
Residents in the fringe villages of the North West State said that 57 people were killed in a string of attacks by the gangs as security forces struggles to curb violence in the region.
Roughly 150 gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on residents before looting shops and stealing cattle in a series of assaults in six remote communities in the state, the sources said.
“We lost a total of 57 people in the attacks across the six villages,” a local leader told AFP on condition of anonymity as he feared for his safety.
In the worst-hit village of Kadisau, the assailants — dubbed “bandits” by locals — shot and killed 33 people, local resident Mohammed Salisu said.
Salisu said he escaped by abandoning his motorcycle and hiding in a ditch before crawling into a nearby house where he hid among dirty laundry for the five hours the attack and looting lasted.
“They looted every shop in the village and took away over 200 cattle,” said Salisu, who lost seven cows to the attackers.
The attackers opened fire on a football pitch where young men were watching a local match, said Sada Audi, a resident of nearby village said.
Residents said 24 more people were later killed across the villages of Hayin Kabalawa, Garke, Makera, Kwakwere and Maiganguna.
The assailants left two dozen people with bullet wounds, inhabitants said.
Nigeria’s northwest has been wracked by years of violence, involving clashes between rival communities over land, attacks by heavily armed criminal gangs and retaliation strikes from vigilante groups.
The unrest, which experts say has been spurred by overpopulation and climate change, has seen an estimated 8,000 people killed since 2011 and 200,000 fleeing their homes.
Nigeria’s military last month said it had launched air raids to halt a spike of attacks in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina.
Despite the several local peace negotiations and security operations carried out in the regions by the Authorities to end the bloodshed; all have proven futile.
The situation has become so terrible that Masari had to confess that the citizenry were “beginning to doubt government’s ability to curb the rampaging bandits by resorting to self help”.
And indeed, Governor Masari may have indirectly seen through what was to come as hundreds of grown up men and children early this week took to the streets in the town of Yan Tumaki in Danmusa Local Government Area of the State protesting the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Masari to protect them from the ravaging effects of bandits.
Hundreds of residents of Yan Tumaki in Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina State on Tuesday took to the streets of the town to protest repeated attacks by bandits on the community.
The protesters, comprising grown-up men and children, blamed President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Wasari for the spate of insecurity in the state.
One of the protesters told newsmen that residents of the area now lived in fear as security agencies in the state appear helpless.
He said the people might resort to self-defence, noting that such move may further worsen the security challenges in the country.
“Is it not shameful and embarrassing that this ugly security threat is happening daily in the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Chief Security Officer of the country?
“It’s glaring both the President and Governor Masari are failures, they have repeatedly failed us. They have to be alive to their constitutional duties of protecting the citizens,” he said.
No fewer than 150 people have been reportedly killed by bandits in Kankara, Dutsinma, Musawa, Danmusa and Safana local government areas of the state in the last two months.
Dgovscoops is of the view that the Katsina killings must be tackled frontally by the federal authorities with clinical despatch.
The fact that the state has been turned to a mass killing field without so much as the security agencies knowing what to do to halt the bloodletting has become a big shame and embarrassment to our collective psyche as a nation.
Governor Masari who has no control over the security forces should not be blamed for this sad development. He has done the much he could do to stop the attacks but they keep coming. President Buhari has also done his best as Commander-in-Chief but am afraid the buck stops on his desk. There has to be a return back to the drawing board to rework the security architecture of Katsina State.
There should also be an emergency security fund for the state to tackle this ugly menace.
The multiplier effect of any neglect or lethargy on the Katsina episode poses a disastrous result that can spread to neighboring states with the same gory tales!
We must stop the killing in Katsina. We must end the bloodletting.
This is not a job to be left in the hands of Governor Masari alone. All hands must be on deck to safe Katsina State from the clutches of bloodthirsty bandits.
It is heartwarming to see the House of Representatives setting the stage for a joint effort on the security situation in the country with the summons issued to the security chiefs to appear before members.
THE TRAVAILS OF GOVERNOR MASARI AND THE KILLER-BANDITS- TIME TO STOP THE KILLINGS
DUROSINMI MESEKO
“We chose to sign a peace agreement with the bandits to avoid loss of lives and property, but it didn’t yield a positive result. This time around, we will hand it over to security personnel.
“In our efforts to honour the agreement between us, we cancelled all vigilantes and volunteer groups and we allowed them (bandits) to continue with their normal activities in the state”.
Above was the statement credited to the embattled Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari after the collapse of the peace treaty his government signed with the bandits last year.
Indeed, Governor Masari was the first State Governor to sign a peace treaty with bandits in order to rid his State of their menace but little did he know that they would betray the accord.
The situation in Katsina State has become so worrisome to most Nigerians who are daily regaled with the horrific tales of armed bandits in Katsina State. The sheer number of the bandits during any of their murderous raids are so benumbing that you would wonder if there was any security presence left in the State. They attack in a gestapo-like fashion leaving scores and hundreds dead at any particular time.
Only yesterday(Wednesday) ,Nigerians woke up to another murderous outing of the recalcitrant bandits in Katsina State.
Residents in the fringe villages of the North West State said that 57 people were killed in a string of attacks by the gangs as security forces struggles to curb violence in the region.
Roughly 150 gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on residents before looting shops and stealing cattle in a series of assaults in six remote communities in the state, the sources said.
“We lost a total of 57 people in the attacks across the six villages,” a local leader told AFP on condition of anonymity as he feared for his safety.
In the worst-hit village of Kadisau, the assailants — dubbed “bandits” by locals — shot and killed 33 people, local resident Mohammed Salisu said.
Salisu said he escaped by abandoning his motorcycle and hiding in a ditch before crawling into a nearby house where he hid among dirty laundry for the five hours the attack and looting lasted.
“They looted every shop in the village and took away over 200 cattle,” said Salisu, who lost seven cows to the attackers.
The attackers opened fire on a football pitch where young men were watching a local match, said Sada Audi, a resident of nearby village said.
Residents said 24 more people were later killed across the villages of Hayin Kabalawa, Garke, Makera, Kwakwere and Maiganguna.
The assailants left two dozen people with bullet wounds, inhabitants said.
Nigeria’s northwest has been wracked by years of violence, involving clashes between rival communities over land, attacks by heavily armed criminal gangs and retaliation strikes from vigilante groups.
The unrest, which experts say has been spurred by overpopulation and climate change, has seen an estimated 8,000 people killed since 2011 and 200,000 fleeing their homes.
Nigeria’s military last month said it had launched air raids to halt a spike of attacks in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina.
Despite the several local peace negotiations and security operations carried out in the regions by the Authorities to end the bloodshed; all have proven futile.
The situation has become so terrible that Masari had to confess that the citizenry were “beginning to doubt government’s ability to curb the rampaging bandits by resorting to self help”.
And indeed, Governor Masari may have indirectly seen through what was to come as hundreds of grown up men and children early this week took to the streets in the town of Yan Tumaki in Danmusa Local Government Area of the State protesting the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Masari to protect them from the ravaging effects of bandits.
Hundreds of residents of Yan Tumaki in Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina State on Tuesday took to the streets of the town to protest repeated attacks by bandits on the community.
The protesters, comprising grown-up men and children, blamed President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Wasari for the spate of insecurity in the state.
One of the protesters told newsmen that residents of the area now lived in fear as security agencies in the state appear helpless.
He said the people might resort to self-defence, noting that such move may further worsen the security challenges in the country.
“Is it not shameful and embarrassing that this ugly security threat is happening daily in the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Chief Security Officer of the country?
“It’s glaring both the President and Governor Masari are failures, they have repeatedly failed us. They have to be alive to their constitutional duties of protecting the citizens,” he said.
No fewer than 150 people have been reportedly killed by bandits in Kankara, Dutsinma, Musawa, Danmusa and Safana local government areas of the state in the last two months.
Dgovscoops is of the view that the Katsina killings must be tackled frontally by the federal authorities with clinical despatch.
The fact that the state has been turned to a mass killing field without so much as the security agencies knowing what to do to halt the bloodletting has become a big shame and embarrassment to our collective psyche as a nation.
Governor Masari who has no control over the security forces should not be blamed for this sad development. He has done the much he could do to stop the attacks but they keep coming. President Buhari has also done his best as Commander-in-Chief but am afraid the buck stops on his desk. There has to be a return back to the drawing board to rework the security architecture of Katsina State.
There should also be an emergency security fund for the state to tackle this ugly menace.
The multiplier effect of any neglect or lethargy on the Katsina episode poses a disastrous result that can spread to neighboring states with the same gory tales!
We must stop the killing in Katsina. We must end the bloodletting.
This is not a job to be left in the hands of Governor Masari alone. All hands must be on deck to safe Katsina State from the clutches of bloodthirsty bandits.
It is heartwarming to see the House of Representatives rising to the occasion this morning with the summons issued to the various security chiefs to appear before the House.
The House had summoned the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.); Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, and other service chiefs; Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; and Director-General, Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, over the rising spate of insecurity in Nigeria.
