Governor Bello Masari has given the military tips on the mode of operation of bandits and how to conquer them in the Northern region of the country.
The governor offered the tips when he received the service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, at the government house, Katsina, yesterday.
Masari urged the military to simultaneously fights bandits in the north-west and north-central of the country.
He noted that this was necessary because the bandits tend to relocate after they may have been flushed out of a state.
He said, “Unless and until these criminals are simultaneously fought, no meaningful result will be achieved.
“You will always find out that if you overpower them in one area, they move to another.
“It is the same people that move to Zamfara and Niger states to continue with their criminalities.”
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The governor pledged to support the military in their operations in the state.
Meanwhile, reacting to the governor’s comment, Irabor said the service chiefs were in the state to assess the operations of their officers in the area.
Katsina State, in the northwest, is one of the hotspots of banditry in the country.
Masari, who once embraced dialogue with the bandits, has been warning his counterparts in the region against entering into peace talks with those he referred as “criminals”.
He said the bandits are hardened criminals who are already set in the ways and will never truly renounce criminality.
The governor based his opinion on what transpired between his administration and representatives of the so called ” repentant ” bandits in 2016 and 2017 when the bandits collected money from the Katsina state government with the promise to stop attacking communities across the state.
According to Masari, the bandits, however, reneged on their promise and “betrayed” the government.
