Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has advocated the capturing of gun-wielding bandits, kidnappers and other criminals with bare hands by local communities as a way of protecting themselves.
The governor stated that when a community of over 3000 people is attacked by about five criminals, the youths of the community should rise against them as they would not be able to shoot more than three times before they are captured.
In his words: “You see five criminals attacking a community of 2,000 to 3,000 people, rape daughters, women and abducting others without anything confrontation from the people of that community.
“If there are 100 youths in the community who confront them, they will not shoot for more than three times without being captured with bare hands.”
Speaking at a Public Engagement, 2025 Citizens’ Budget Participation Process and the launching of a Community Development Programme in the Katsina zone, Dikko Radda stressed that the state government is actively committed to the protection of the residents.
According to him, “We have come up with an initiative that for any community ready to defend itself, we will give them necessary support and training to engage criminals before the arrival of the security of agents.
“I went to a village, Tsamiyar-jino, where it took me two hours inside a Jeep before I reached the village from the main road.
“So, if bandits attack such areas, from the time you inform the security, it will take them over twor hours before they can respond to the distress call.
“By then, whatever is going to happen will have happened – they will have killed people and kidnapped others,” he said.
The governor also decried the challenge of inadequate security persons across communities in the state.
He said this makes it necessary for communities to defend themselves even as the state government is ready to give them support and training.