By Abdurrasheed Nasir Maitabarmi
INFOMEDIA – When on June 17, this year, following the ruptured of the “peace treaty” signed between Katsina state government and the marauding bandits, Governor Aminu Bello Masari said: “I can’t look my people in the face because I have failed them. “One might think then that the Governor had learned from his mistakes because right from the inception of the “treaty,” it was outrightly criticized and condemned by majority of the state citizens.
On a daily basis in today’s Katsina, on-road and off-road, in town and villages, people are being attacked, killed and kidnapped. Women are being raped and properties razed. Many farms were left unfarmed. Internally displaced persons living at various camps and some roaming every nooks and crannies of the state.
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In spite of all this disastrous event, Katsina state government had, two days ago, through its de facto Governor, Mustapha Inuwa disclosed that they had ” constituted a committee to relocate, resettle and rehabilitate repentant bandits to a more convenient settlement located around Rugu forest, with schools, markets, healthcare infrastructure, farm lands for rearing and other agric-related activities.”
Haba! Isn’t this a slap on the faces of those who were victims of their heinous act? On what ground and reason were they (bandits) repenting? Is this a cease-fire or a cease and desist or you cease to exist approach? What concept of conflict resolution is this?
Unlike Boko-haram war whose perpetrators were believed to have been radicalized and ideologized by certain religious extremist groups, the marauding bandits has no justifiable or aggrieved reason worth-listening-to for ransacking and maiming people and their properties. So why giving them special treatment?
Continuing this bizarrely project with public funds at a time when there is alleged misappropriation of over N52.4B on security hanging on the neck of the state government would only mean that the bandits have killed enough to beat the state into pacification mode and this will only encourage others to arm themselves and cause sufficient killings to get undue concession. The entire project is misaligned to the needful!
If you must resettle, then resettle the victims not the perpetrators.
Abdurrasheed nasir maitabarmi is a controversial blogger and can be reached at [email protected]
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of INFOMEDIA
