- Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda has extended an open invitation to bandits operating within North-West forests to lay down their arms, promising state-backed welfare and complete social reintegration for those who genuinely repent.
- The governor announced the packages during the commissioning of 152 newly built mass housing units in Jibia Local Government Area, an intervention designed to shelter and support families displaced by rural terrorism.
- Backed by international partners including the UNDP and the German Government, the Jibia project features a mini-grid solar system, a climate peace entrepreneurship center, and immediate financial grants for beneficiaries.
Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda on Thursday, June 11, 2026, offered a strategic lifeline to active bandits operating across the vast forest areas of the North-West zone.
Eko Hot Blog reports that speaking directl to criminal factions responsible for years of rural instability, Radda announced that the doors for dialogue, genuine repentance, and structured resettlement remain fully open.
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The governor urged insurgents to choose the safety of their children over weapons, promising that the state government is fully prepared to provide legal economic opportunities, financial grants, and housing privileges to any individuals willing to return to civilian life through honest labor.
The executive peace offer was delivered during the formal inauguration of 152 modern mass housing units constructed for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within the Jibia Local Government Area.
The humanitarian project, which originally commenced construction in October 2024, was successfully executed through a collaborative financing model between the Katsina State Government and international development organizations.
Governor Radda noted that the finished houses represent a sacred promise kept to vulnerable families who survived the trauma of mass kidnappings, losing their ancestral homes and agricultural livelihoods to armed gangs.
To ensure immediate stabilization, each beneficiary family allocated a home in the newly established estate received essential household materials, including mattresses, mats, cooking stoves, food items, and a direct cash empowerment grant of ₦200,000.
Beyond basic shelter, the state government expanded the Jibia site to feature a Climate Peace Entrepreneurship Centre, a local veterinary clinic, solar mini-grid electricity networks, safe drinking water stations, and rehabilitated commercial structures at the local cattle market.
Radda noted that because of these strategic steps, Jibia has not recorded a single coordinated bandit assault or mass abduction in recent times, allowing local farmers to safely return to their fields.
The broad intervention received strong praise from the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms. Elsie Attafuah, who characterized the housing layout as an essential milestone in restoring human dignity to victims of protracted conflict.
Attafuah praised the exceptional resilience of Katsina communities, emphasizing that building physical infrastructure is only the first step toward long-term regional recovery.
Concluding his remarks, Governor Radda thanked the UNDP, the Norwegian Government, and the German Government through GIZ, stating that deep-rooted challenges like climate stress and poverty can only be solved through continuous international partnerships.
