A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Katsina State, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, has claimed that one of the Local Government Areas in the state has earmarked N300 million for the 2026 fiscal year to pay suspected bandits in the area.
Inuwa, who stated this in an interview, further said several councils affected by insecurity also pay sums running into several million naira to suspected bandits on a monthly basis.
He lamented that despite the community-initiated peace deal with bandits in 18 council areas of the state, such huge amount of public funds was still being paid to a few sets of people at the expense of the development of affected councils.
He said, “There is a local government in Katsina State that has earmarked the sum of N300 million for bandits in its 2026 budget.
“Government also gives money to bandits on a monthly basis, and this is despite the so-called peace deal with bandits.”
Inuwa, who was Secretary to the State Government (SGS) during former governor Aminu Bello Masari’s tenure, further said the peace deal with bandits may not achieve the desired objectives in the long run, as attacks still occur daily in parts of the state.
He cited examples of recent attacks in Kankara, Malumfashi and Jibia councils, in which at least two persons were killed, several others injured, and more than a dozen persons abducted.
He said peace deal notwithstanding, insecurity has continued to be a challenge, especially in the frontline council areas, adding that what people in the area say is often different from what government tells the public.
The ADC chieftain wondered why the state government would want to facilitate the freedom of dozens of convicted and suspected bandits, when it has always said it would not negotiate with bandits.
“The state governor has time and again said his administration would not negotiate with bandits. If it is so, why is the government now taking this step to free detained bandits?
“Some of these bandits are people whom communities are afraid of their return to society”, adding that there was no guarantee they would not go back to their former ways of life as they did in previous peace deals.
Inuwa, who oversaw two botched amnesty programs for bandits during Masari’s tenure, lamented that with the current peace deal, bandits have now become familiar with the nooks and crannies of communities they used to attack.
He added that with such familiarity, it would be disastrous should they renege on the agreed peace deal and revert to their old ways of life.
“Before now, bandits didn’t know the communities or the people living in these security-prone areas; they used to depend on informants in order to carry out their operations.
“But now, the so-called peace deal has allowed them to know every nook and cranny of the communities. There isn’t anyone they don’t know, or any house where they reside.
“We are not praying for anything bad to happen, but since these bandits have been left to roam with their weapons, if they should renege on the peace deal, they’ll no longer rely on informants to carry out their operations.”
Inuwa said the only way to have lasting solution to the problem of banditry and related criminality is for Katsina and neighbouring states affected by insecurity to adopt similar approach in tackling the situation.
He explained that all the states affected by insecurity should adopt uniform tactic in tackling banditry, and not for one to emphasise the kinetic, while the other focuses on non-kinetic measures.
