Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has claimed that some security personnel and government officials are aiding gunmen, thus turning banditry into a business venture.
Note that Katsina state is one of the worst hit by the security challenge in the North West.
Radda says the high level of poverty in the country is also a contributory factor to the prevalence of insecurity.
He spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, even as bandits struck afresh in Unguwar Sarkin Noma community in Sabuwa Local Government Area of the state on Thursday night, killing no fewer than 24 residents who tried to resist the gunmen’s invasion.
Another gang raided the Ogbaulu community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State on Friday, killing three farmers.
“Now it has turned into 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,” Radda said in the interview.
This situation, according to him, is partly responsible for the inability of the government to end banditry.
He did not agree with suggestions that the security crisis was caused by politics.
