A news commentary I wrote for Katsina State Radio.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on Monday, April 1, 2019, inaugurated what the army called, “Operation Harbin Kunama III”, in Gusau, Zamfara State.
According to Buratai, “…the exercise, which is expected to cover Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states, was rescheduled and expanded because of the threat assessment carried out to cover the forest areas that have served as safe haven for bandits”.
Already, the army has in place an operation tagged, ‘Operation Sharar Daji’, a military outfit in the area flushing out bandits.
To say that this decision is of immense significance to these three states is to put it mildly. In the last couple of years, these states that were among the safest in Nigeria have joined the league of turbulent and violent states where peace is fast disappearing. Violence started with mild cattle rustling in Zamfara State which degenerated into full blown banditry and kidnapping that are now widespread in the three mentioned states and in Kaduna State, too.
Here in Katsina state, the frontline local government areas where these atrocities are perpetrated are about 10, comprising Jibia; Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Faskari, Sabuwa, Dandume, Funtua and Katsina itself!
There were reports of kidnapping in some other local governments not mentioned above, such as Bakori, Dutsinma, Kankiya and Mani local government areas. In short, nearly half of Katsina state is engulfed in this crisis.
You see on a daily basis reports of these heinous acts in both the traditional and social media being committed in many parts of the state. Cases of these criminal elements sending ransom letters to communities are always trending in the social media, including recordings of the miscreants telling would be victims when they would strike! As bad as that!
From all intent and purposes, Katsina state is no longer the safe haven it used to be.
We are not unmindful of the efforts of the federal and state governments in the fight against this malady: the federal government has always responded with security agencies such as the Police, Army, Air Force, DSS and other security outfits. On its part, Katsina State Government has arranged a series of amnesty programs where some of the repentant criminals were received. They surrendered their weapons and some of the cattle they rustled. The state government also assisted security agencies with logistics and repaired some of their vehicles.
All these efforts are, indeed, commendable. But the efforts are gradually proving to be inadequate as the problem, rather than abating, seems to be continuing if not declining. That’s why this renewed effort of the Nigerian Army should be viewed as a refreshing tactic that will, hopefully, achieve the desired objective.
On the part of the community, there is need for traditional and community leaders to come into the picture by giving their utmost in lending a hand to the security outfits to curtail the menace. We seriously need them even though some bad eggs among them were reported to be dye-in-the-wool accomplices of the criminal elements.