The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, has said due to the insecurity in Nigeria, the country has become economically attractive to kidnappers and bandits.
Governor Masari disclosed this on Wednesday, March 25, while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
You could recall that the governor some weeks back, strongly opposed the idea of granting blanket amnesty to the bandits, stating that the idea is enabling the miscreants to continue with their crimes.
He went further to boast about the security situation in the country, saying that the security of Nigeria has improved since the Buhari led-administration came into power.
“When we started in 2015 in the North-West, it was cattle-rustling. Gradually, it now developed into banditry, rape, kidnappings. When all that they (bandits) can steal from the villagers along the fringes finished, they moved to the rustling of goats, sheep, and even chicken.
“What we should do and what the government should do now is (about) high-profile kidnapping. In my state, they kidnapped four relatives of very senior government officials. When they cannot get anything to sustain themselves, they resort to high-profile kidnappings for money in cities and towns. That is the danger, that is something we must work hard to stop,” the governor opined.
Governor Masari also kicked against the intervention of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi in quelling the banditry activities in the northwest. He questioned the cleric’s knowledge on security issues.
“Was he there? What did he know about what we did in Kaduna? I challenge Gumi to come and tell us if he knows what we did in Kaduna,” the governor asked in reaction to Gumi’s stance on how the state government should handle banditry.
When the governor was asked on why he does not support Sheikh Gumi’s intervention, Masari said the cleric did not go about it the right way.
“I expect him to, first of all, preach to them (the bandits), the implication of killing innocent people and also the implication of abducting people and its consequences. That is what I expect a clergyman first and foremost to do,” the governor noted.