Presidency Reveals Why It’s Difficult To End Banditry In Kastina

The presidency on Monday revealed why banditry has become prevalent in Kastina, the state of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the inability to nip the activities of bandits in their bud boiled down to the fact that some traditional rulers are colluding with the bandits to perpetrate atrocities.

Garba made the claim when he appeared on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Monday.

Garba averred that these traditional rulers helped gunmen escape when security agencies are planning attacks and homing in on them.

Katsina has become the flash point of banditry and other nefarious activities in recent times.

A number of people have lost their lives and property in the incidents.

Shehu said there were people who were benefiting from the attacks.

He added them some of the traditional rulers who were found guilty of the shameless act of colluding with gunmen had since been dethroned.

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“It is not that we are making direct accusations on anyone but it is also true that even in the president’s native state of Katsina, some traditional rulers have been found complicit in collaboration with the bandits to harm their own people,” he said.

“In neighbouring Zamfara, emirs and district heads, quite a number of them have been swept out of office. The thing is there are beneficiaries of whatever rotten system you have.

“At some point, the Nigerian Air Force had to put a number of aircraft in Katsina, they are still there. In the early part of that operation attacking Zamfara which then was the epicentre.

“They realised that once aircraft took off from Katsina airport, before it got to Zamfara for operation, telephone calls would have been made and targets would have disappeared. In the end we were forced to be flying from distant places like Kaduna and Kano in order to undertake operations in Zamfara.”

Shehu said the president cannot proffer solutions to all the problems confronting the country.

He noted that citizens have a duty to the nation to provide information to our armed forces.