Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State has attributed banditry and other security challenges that have hitherto bedeviled the state to the systematic neglect of herdsmen by successive governments and the inability to provide social amenities to their communities.
He said although the state government had been able to successfully persuade the herdsmen to renounce their criminal acts and embrace peace, the government must however put in place the structures that would sustain the peace permanently.
Masari, in a statement issued to reporters on Thursday by his Director of Media and Publicity, Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, said the herders complained of abandonment by successive administrations, with no government presence to give them any sense of belonging as citizens of Nigeria.
He added that after the government’s dialogue with the commanders of the bandits in the eight affected local government areas nearly two months ago, kidnapping and other forms of banditry have entirely stopped in the state.
“Our engagements with the bandits have been successful because there has never been any more kidnapping in the state since then. Also, all known persons kidnapped by the bandits have been released by their captors,” he said.