A lot of people were unhappy as governor of Katsina State, Rt Hon. Aminu Masari, recently took the decision to go into the hideouts of the bandits that had held the state captive for years and engage them in dialogue, Igberet reports.
While some people felt that the move amounted to a great risk on his considering how ruthless the bandits had become, others believed that it was administratively unethical that such anti-social elements would be engaged in a dialogue rather than the fire-for-fire approach.
It would seem, however, that Masari’s decision has turned out a wise one, going by the revelations that have emerged from it.
The bandits did not only respond positively to Masari’s olive branch by their decisions to drop their arms and cooperate with the state government in its developmental efforts, some of them were also said to have dropped useful hints to the effect that many of the soldiers and policemen deployed to check the activities of the bandits had been compromised.
Some of the security agents were said to have entered into agreements with the bandits to look the other way while they carried on with their nefarious activities or even provide them with arms and ammunition while the bandits pay back in cash or rustled cattle.
Since two leaders of the repentant bandits reportedly opened the Pandora box, security agencies have been working on clues to uncover the soldiers and policemen fueling banditry in the state. Sentry gathered that many of the errant soldiers and policemen are already cringing, with some of them desperately seeking to be transferred away from the state.
