Danger Signals From Katsina

The signals from Katsina State are as worrisome as they are unnerving because it appears bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements are having a field day. Reports from that state indicate that kidnapping for ransom has become a daily occurrence. The situation became seemingly intractable that the State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari told an extraordinary security meeting that the state is under siege of criminals.

While grieving over the deteriorating state of security, Masari urged the relevant security agencies to rise to the occasion, and do their job of securing life and property. He lamented that the citizens were harassed by bandits and kidnappers who are on rampage in the state. The Governor disclosed that due to the activities of these criminal elements, the people in the 34 local governments now experience uneasy sleep. And because the state is, to all intents and purposes, in a dangerous situation, travellers are afraid of being stopped on the highway and arrested by kidnappers who demand ransom. He said the situation was so serious that thieves stole electrical equipment at the Government Reservation Area (GRA) near the Government House, an area that was assumed to be well-secured.The Governor disclosed that due to the activities of these criminal elements, the people in the 34 local governments now experience uneasy sleep. And because the state is, to all intents and purposes, in a dangerous situation, travellers are afraid of being stopped on the highway and arrested by kidnappers who demand ransom. He said the situation was so serious that thieves stole electrical equipment at the Government Reservation Area (GRA) near the Government House, an area that was assumed to be well-secured.

There are also reports that between December and second week of January, no fewer than 20 people were abducted, including traditional rulers with ransom running into millions of naira paid to secure their release. Shortly after the governor raised the alarm, the intensity of kidnapping and other bandits’ activities seemed to have heightened with series of abduction including the failed attempt to kidnap the former President of the Court of Appeal who holds the revered title of Galadiman Katsina and District Head of Malumfashi, Justice Mamman Nasir.

Justice Nasir was said to be returning to his district, Malumfashi, when the car he was travelling in alongside his driver and aide fell into kidnappers trap. His aide, Aminu Sani, was taken. Before now, communities in the state that share border with Zamfara State have been compelled to live in dread of these merchants of death.

Indeed, the siege on Katsina by bandits is a sad reminder of the senseless killings by these faceless bandits in neighbouring Zamfara State, a development that has forced scores of villagers to relocate to Katsina state they assumed was a safe haven in search of safety. The Zamfara scenario has assumed a worrisome dimension with widespread calls for a declaration of the state of emergency following concerns that the authority in the state has failed in its onerous task of protecting lives and property.

This newspaper is worried that the frail security situation in Katsina state underscores the shaky situation in the whole of North West. We recall with pain that many have been killed with many more kidnapped for ransom in the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state.

From repeated killings and kidnapping in Zamfara State to the countless murder and abduction along the Birnin Gwari road, and the rising wave of insecurity in Katsina, the security situation of North West deserves thorough attention.

We recall that at the inception of the current administration, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna states signed a security arrangement where the governors committed some resources to policing their areas. We are persuaded by the prevailing situation in the region to ask what happened to that arrangement.

In our opinion, there is a pressing and urgent need to nip the Katsina situation in the bud so as not to escalate the deteriorating security situation in the country. Perhaps the time is now for the governors to work together towards unravelling the mystery behind this precarious security situation which, if left unchecked, will have far reaching negative implications for the nation’s territorial integrity considering the fact that these states share border with neighbouring countries.

The recent decision of the military to launch an operation in the state is plausible and must be supported by all including residents since these bandits live among them. It is also our view that the best way to address a security situation as challenging as the one that currently stares the nation in the face is to adopt the use of both intelligence and technology. Residents must be willing to provide intelligence to security agencies who, on their part, must effectively deploy the use of technology in the process of strategic and actionable information gathering. That criminals can be stopped right in their tracks.It is also our view that the best way to address a security situation as challenging as the one that currently stares the nation in the face is to adopt the use of both intelligence and technology. Residents must be willing to provide intelligence to security agencies who, on their part, must effectively deploy the use of technology in the process of strategic and actionable information gathering. That criminals can be stopped right in their tracks.