The Katsina State Government has raised alarm over the growing involvement of local informants and collaborators in the state’s persistent banditry crisis, revealing that 80 per cent of attacks by armed criminals are aided by members of affected communities.
The state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Nasir Mu’azu, made the shocking disclosure on Thursday during a press briefing in Katsina, where he described the sabotage as a major obstacle to restoring peace.
Mu’azu accused some residents of rural communities of working hand-in-glove with the bandits by providing them with essential supplies such as food, fuel, and drugs—often at exorbitant prices—thereby turning the insecurity into a lucrative business.
“In one of the communities, a bottle of Coca-Cola was sold to bandits for N3,000, and fuel for as much as N5,000 per litre,” the commissioner said.
He further revealed that some locals go as far as supplying the criminals with hard drugs, and in some extreme cases, even collaborate in abductions for ransom.
“There was a case where a man connived with bandits to kidnap his own diabetic father. When the bandits received him, they had already stocked up on his diabetic medications.
Eventually, N30 million was paid as ransom, and the son received N8 million as his share,” Mu’azu disclosed.
The commissioner added that some informants regularly tip off bandits about the movements of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), frustrating aerial operations meant to target criminal hideouts.
“Whenever NAF jets take off, these informants alert the bandits who then disappear before the jets reach their target. In some cases, the criminals even hide under the same communities that harbour them,” he lamented.
Mu’azu expressed frustration over the complexity of the crisis, stating that while banditry is visible, it accounts for only 20 per cent of the security challenge. The remaining 80 per cent, he argued, is fueled by community complicity and silence.
“We have made considerable progress using kinetic measures in some areas, but without community support and reliable intelligence, there can be no sustainable peace,” he said.
He urged residents to partner with security agencies by volunteering actionable intelligence, assuring that such information would be handled with “utmost confidentiality.”
The commissioner’s revelations come amid ongoing efforts by both federal and state governments to combat the worsening insecurity across Nigeria’s North-West region.
Katsina, the home state of former President Muhammadu Buhari, remains one of the epicenters of rural banditry and mass kidnappings in the country.
This report was compiled by PLATFORM TIMES as part of our commitment to tracking security developments and governance in Nigeria’s North-West.
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