Governor Aminu Masari with bandits
By Our Reporter
Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari is bitter at the moment, this is because, the peace accord his administration signed with bandits troubling the state has collapsed.
This much was confirmed by the governor, Wednesday in an interview with the Hausa service of the BBC
Masari had, on August 28, 2019, engaged representatives of bandits terrorising the eight frontline local government areas in the state. He said his visit was aimed at calling the attention of suspected bandits to respect the amnesty granted to them by his government.
But in a twist of event on Wednesday, Masari said his administration would no longer engage in any negotiation or peace talks with bandits as they did not honour the agreement they signed.
The governor said in the agreement they signed with the state government, the bandits promised to repent and leave the north-western part of the country. Governor Masari stated that the bandits had betrayed the state as they could not honour the agreement.
In the last few weeks, there had been increased attacks in various communities in Katsina that claimed the lives of many people while others lost their sources of livelihood.
Masari noted that he was the first governor to have signed an agreement with bandits saying until recently, the bandits had honoured the agreement.
“We chose to sign a peace agreement with the bandits to avoid loss of lives and property, but it didn’t yield a positive result. This time around, we will hand it over to security personnel.
“In our efforts to honour the agreement between us, we cancelled all vigilantes and volunteer groups and we allowed them (bandits) to continue with their normal activities in the state,” he said
