By Uzair Adam
Government has revealed that the majority of bandit attacks in the state are being aided by informants and some members of affected communities who supply food, fuel, drugs, and other essentials to the criminals.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Nasir Mu’azu, made this known while briefing journalists on Thursday in Katsina, lamenting that about 80 per cent of attacks are linked to insider collaboration.
Mu’azu said some community members act as informants or conduct illicit trade with the criminals at highly inflated prices inside the forests, thereby enabling their operations and profiting from the insecurity.
“In one of the communities affected by the insecurity, a man was found selling a bottle of Coca-Cola for N3,000, and another sold fuel to the bandits for N5,000 per litre,” he disclosed.
He added that drugs and illicit substances are also being supplied at high prices, creating a profitable business for the collaborators.
“Some people even connive with bandits to facilitate abductions of specific victims, including family members,” he said.
Citing a shocking example, the commissioner narrated a case where a man colluded with bandits to kidnap his diabetic father.
“When the bandits brought him to their hideout, they already had diabetic medication ready for his daily treatment. The family eventually paid N30 million in ransom, and the man received N8 million for facilitating the abduction,” he explained.
Mu’azu also said that some informants tip off bandits when Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jets take off for operations, enabling the criminals to evade airstrikes by taking cover within civilian populations.
“This has made it difficult for the military to succeed in some of their missions,” he said.
According to him, only about 20 per cent of the insecurity challenge in the state can be attributed directly to bandits, while the remaining 80 per cent is driven by the actions of insiders who aid and abet them.
While noting that the state government has made significant progress using kinetic approaches in some local government areas, he stressed the need for community cooperation and non-kinetic solutions to address the root of the problem.
He urged the public to provide credible information that could support security efforts, assuring that all such reports would be treated with the utmost confidentiality.