Dr. Dikko Umar Radda, PhD, CON, the Governor of Katsina State was so frustrated by the constant attacks of bandits in his state that he once accused one of the security forces of compromising the battle to end the menace for good. This allegation pitched him in a battle of words with the Military High Command, which dared him to substantiate the claim.

I had earlier decided not to ‘work’ today, Saturday, and also give my readers a breather, but the appeal for help from Kurfi town in Katsina state made me change my mind, and decided to write on this disturbing incident.

Last night the plea from some people in Kurfi town trended on the social media, that the people in the town needed the immediate assistance of the security agencies as bandits were at that moment attacking the place. Even today, some others from the area have continued to appeal for help to be extended to the people.

The Kurfi attack has also affected me, in that the respective husbands of two younger sisters of my wife were victims. One of them was abducted and the other one was seriously shot at on one of his thighs, and is rushed to the Amadi Rimi Orthopaedic Hospital in C Katsina. The bandits attacked on the night of Friday at about 2.00am. The bandits also callously abducted a breastfeeding mother who underwent a Caesarean section to bring out twins, who were also abducted. The mother is still to finish the traditional one month of hot water after birth bath.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece that I titled: ‘Sighting the end of security challenges in the north’. In the write up I based my arguments around some video clips and a couple of claims made by some prominent Nigerians, some of them now late. Both indicated that the insecurity affecting the entire northern part of Nigeria was ‘man made’ and therefore, completely eradicable with enough of the will and political powers to do so.

Of particular interest are two video clips where the issue of banditry or insecurity was discussed. The first clip shows the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu was pleading with four white males to give Nigeria a breather and stop supporting the insecurity ravaging the country.

The second video is of the infamous bandit Bello Turji where, sitting proudly on a motorcycle, he accused someone highly placed in the government and the traditional institutions as actively supporting the bandits with money and other logistics.

The question people always ask is why are these non state actors appear to be one step ahead of the state actors, made up of the military and the police. In some cases, even the serious Department of State Security (DSS) was involved.

To date, the bandits were said to have killed hundreds of their victims, abducted thousands, including women and children as little as months old for ransom, burn many food stores after carting away what they could and prevent many farmers from going to their farms. Where they were allowed to work on their farms, the farmers must pay huge levies to the bandits. 

The bandits sometimes murder the victims of abduction even after the ransom for their release was paid, as was the case of an acquaintance.

Kurfi town and environs used to come under constant attack from bandits until a Federal Lawmaker brought some weapons experts to  assist, teach and stay for some time with, the locals who owned firearms how to make them optimally effective, and also teach others the method. Honourable Aminu Balele, better known as ‘Dan Arewa’, and who is also known to be fiercely pro his constituents and a strong supporter of governments at both state and federal levels, brought to Kurfi the firearms experts.

This led to the complete cessation of the surprise attacks from the bandits on the area. The peace continued for more than one year, during which the locals became complacent. It gave the bandits the audacity to resume their attacks on the area, particularly Kurfi town, which is the most urban and populous centre in the area.

The Governor of Katsina state had, early in his administration, established an outfit that was specifically designed to protect the people from bandits and which I saw as a ‘Rapid Response Squad’ of sorts. It is called ‘Community Watch Corps’, any it has received the acceptance and blessing of the people in the state.

Another question to ask is why are only Nigerians are victims of the ravaging banditry. It hardly, if it ever did, happen on none Nigerians. And these non citizens are mostly in the bush involved in illegal activities, especially mining of gold, which many north west states of Nigeria do have in commercial quantities.

As for Kurfi town and environs, the governments at both Federal and state levels need to do more urgently and find a lasting solution to the frequent banditry taking place in the area. As a matter of fact, the solution to the whole insecurity in Nigeria should not be a small issue to keep toying with. 

Serious effort must be employed in the fight to eliminate it completely. The security agencies must convince fellow compatriots that they are not in anyway complicit in the fight against the insurgents and other criminals, and therefore, mean business by all means.

An acquittance, I once worked with closely, was abducted along with his elder brother, on his farm and was cruelly murdered, even after the ransom demanded by the bandits had been paid. He and the brother went to the farm based on the persistent insistence of a‘supposed’ friend, who turned out to be an informer working for the bandits. The acquaintance was a very gentle person, who agreed to bear whatever punishment the bandits had for his brother.

Meanwhile, politicians seem to want to score cheap points by lying to the world about their supposed ‘credibility’, where non existed in the first place. A young Federal Lawmaker in the House of Representatives recently told the world that he, along with two equally young lawmakers, had refused to take the expensive Toyota jeep given to every member of the National Assembly (NASS). But documents from the Transport Department of the NASS show that he has actually signed for, and collected, the vehicle.

Why the ‘lie’ therefore, if one may ask? No election for the House is on the horizon.

May God protect us from the bandits and the rogue politicians who would always lie their way around us, toying with our intelligence and lives.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.