For now, no negotiation with bandits — Katsina Governor

Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State says the government is not considering negotiation with bandits operating in the state but will employ both kinetic and non-kinetic means to end the menace.

Radda stated this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, at the Defence Headquarters on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the Community Security Watch, launched by the state government had been able to recruit locals from the communities where banditry had been taking place.

According to him, the effort of the state government is to strengthen the military and other security outfits to carry out joint operations that will help to reduce the effect of the insecurity on the people.

Radda said: “What the last administration did was that, they negotiated with the bandits and the negotiation has not yielded any result.

“We feel that we have to use kinetic and non-kinetic approach to address the issue.

“For now, we cannot negotiate with the bandits at the point of disadvantage.”

The governor said he preferred to negotiate with the bandits when there is a lot of pressure on them whereby they would come out on their own and say that they want to sit down and negotiate.

“At that point, we can negotiate with them and we can resettle them back into the society,” he said.

The governor said his visit to DHQ was aimed at strengthening the collaboration that had existed between the state and the military.

Radda noted that the military had played a key role in reducing insecurity in the state and nation.

He said that collaboration with the military and other security agencies remained the only way out of the prevailing security challenges confronting the state.

“Jointly, we can do something that can reduce the effect on our people and also allow our people to go about their economic activities, as enshrined by the Constitution,” he added.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Musa, commended the efforts of the state government in addressing the security challenges through various initiatives like the creation of community watch.

He urged the governor to collaborate with his colleagues in the neighbouring states towards having a unified voice against insecurity in their various states.

He pledged the willingness of the armed forces to collaborate with the state government to address the security challenges in Katsina State in order to ensure lasting peace in the state.

The CDS said the military had continued to intensify its operation in all the theatres, adding that the bandits and terrorists had been rendered handicap in most areas.