Katsina Governor, Dikko Radda has attributed the challenge of banditry being currently faced by the Northwest states to injustice and poverty.
The Governor said he did not share in the opinion that politics was behind the problem.
The Governor made the declaration at an interview on a national television station.
Using Katsina as an example,he said injustice left unattended to for a long time and poverty had made banditry to become a major challenge in the state.
Governor Radda said some youths were lured to banditry for as low as N500, N2000 and N5,000 because of injustice and poverty, adding that things were so bad that it would even be difficult to know who is not working for bandits as they cut across security, civil servants and residents.
“You don’t even know whether the driver you are speaking with is not working for bandits or not,” he declared in the interview.
The Governor added “Now it( banditry) has turned out to be a business venture. A business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government; some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people. “
The Governor insisted that his decision to tackle the problem made him establish the community watch corps and purchase more security hardware.
“I will never have meetings with bandits from the point of weakness. I will rather hold such meetings or dialogue from the point of strength. That is why we established the community watch corps and purchased arms and ammunition to tackle the insecurity in the state. That is why some of the bandits even want dialogue with the government.”
Governor Radda added that it had become difficult to end banditry as it has now turned into a “business venture.”