Gwagware: Counting Promises
By Tahir I Tahir Talban Bauchi
The number one duty of govt is the maintenance of law and order and the provision of security. The security situation of the North West and Katsina in particular had worsened between 2019 to 2022 and Katsina had somewhat joined the list of states you could call the hotbeds of banditry in Nigeria. By 2022 when primary elections of political parties took place, it was more than obvious that Dr. Dikko Radda was a front runner in the Katsina guber race. Beyond that, he was eminently qualified and his experience as a classroom teacher, a civil servant, an administrator, a technocrat, and ofcourse a politician; all alluded to the very palpable sentiment of Katsina people: that it was the likes of Dikko Radda they needed.
Uniquely, Dikko Radda was hard hit by banditry, more than most in Katsina, and especially amongst the aspirants for the gubernatorial elections. His elder brother was killed by bandits, and his uncle narrowly escaped the death knell, only to be saved by the ransom Radda had to pay to secure his release. Recovering from such horrid experience, my opinion was that Radda as a wounded lion, scarred terribly by banditry, was in the best position to face banditry and fight it to its end, should he be elected governor.
By May 2023 at the start of his tenure, he encouraged my earlier optimism about his leadership capabilities by immediately putting together The Community Watch Corps (CWC) which has over 3000 vigilantes, recruited to fight banditry. Strategically, each ward of each local govt has its inhabitants in the watch corp personnel, paying more attention to the most challenged LGAs. The corps were equipped, trained and empowered to take the war to the bandits. The CWC is designed to serve as partner and support for the other security organisations; the police, the army, customs, immigration and ofcourse the civil defence corps. The CWC have been trained in intelligence gathering, combat, and weaponry. They were trained to collaborate with the security agencies, having been trained by retired army and police officers in the state. They were provided with Armored Personnel Carriers, and hundreds of Hilux vans, and motorcycles. They were also equipped with communication gadgets to aid their operations, especially with the challenging communications network the country is facing.
The CWC has been largely successful and over the last two years, the army and the police have issued statements to commend the gallantry of the CWC personnel. They’ve been courageous, selfless and gallant at the war front, laying down their lives for a truly just cause. Dikko Radda himself has joined the security agencies alongside the Watch Corps, as they raid bandit strongholds and bandit hideouts. Just two weeks ago, a video of the Katsina State Governor surfaced online, and you could see him alongside security forces, raiding bandit hideouts and sometimes querying some village residents who are suspected to be bandit informants and bandit collaborators. He pointed out some belongings and clothes dried on laundry lines whose owners are most likely bandits who fled the area as soon as they realised that security forces led by the governor were onto them.
On the 19th of June, 2025, bandits attacked Bauje in Kurfi LGA, injuring two people. Vigilantes and security forces reacted swiftly and engaged them in a gun battle. They overpowered them and several bandits were neutralised. On the 7th of June, security forces dealt a huge blow on bandits in Tsaskiya Forest, Safana LGA. On the 24th of May, the army and vigilantes killed scores of bandits in a very fierce operation at Ruwan Godiya, outskirts of Faskari LGA. The bandits that weren’t unalived fled, abandoning their belongings and weapons including bikes, bombs and guns. Some even drowned as they scampered for safety. On the 23rd of April, notorious bandit leader Harisu along with his 10 man gang were also killed. On the 22nd of April, bandits attacked Doma in Faskari LGA but were repelled by Community Watch Corps CWC and neutralised. The bandits that fled abandoned over 10 motorcycles as they ran away. The CWC were also able to arrest bandits responsible for the killing of Alh. Surajo Ahmed, Chairman of Miyetti Allah and the abduction of his family. These were the same bandits responsible for terrorising some communities in Kankia.
The Governor while re-iterating his govts efforts towards ending banditry, stressed the need for everyone to come on board the fight. It’s like ‘ruwan dare’, with different strata of people involved. From transporters to delivery men and women, to apologists and collaborators who house them and provide them information that is inimical to the success of the war the state govt is waging against the bandits. The heat of the war has caused for the bandits to call for dialogue and cease-fire recently, and it is not the first time. The nation’s porous borders have allowed bandits to flee and roll out or roll back into the country whenever they are facing annihilation. The Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff in a recent interview made mention of Pakistan being able to build a border wall of around 1,350 kilometres between itself and Afghanistan and it found peace. Bandits in Nigeria flee whenever they are fought to a standstill and because we have over 4800 kms of free porous borders, stopping them has been quite ineffective. They flee, recover, rebuild and launch another attack. Dikko Radda is doing his best as far as the war against banditry is concerned. But the entire sahelian region is in disarray and it is almost consumed by bandit groups; so for Nigeria, the success of the war is eventually outside our borders.
The very good thing about all this is that Diko Radda has not abandoned governance and resigned himself and his govt to fighting insecurity alone. He has completed most of his predecessors projects and embarked on new ones which he has commissioned. When Mr. President visited Katsina, Dr. Dikko Radda’s govt unveiled the Katsina Agricultural Mechanisation Centre where 500 tractors, 10 multifunctional combined harvesters, 70 tractor trailers, and 1,000 multiplanters were launched. Mechanised farming is in full swing in Katsina, underlined by the provision of 400,000 bags of fertlizer to 411,000 small holder farmers, with close to 10,000 solar powered water pumps for irrigation and dry season farming. The governor also inaugurated 8 borehole based water schemes, announcing that other similar World Bank supported projects (SURWASH) worth over 25 billion were at different stages of completion across the State. Mr. President also announced the continuing of the 2nd phase of the Katsina-kano expressway having cleared the existing bottlenecks. The Kano-Katsina-Maradi-Jigawa Rail project is also scheduled to be completed by 2026 according to Mr. President. President Tinubu also said that contracts had been awarded for the full rehabilitation of Maraba-Kankara-Zango-Katsina Road and also the Sabuwa-Rimi-Danja-Dayi- Funtua-Dandume Road. He agreed with former Governor Masari that more work needed to be done over the security challenges and expressed the govts commitment in providing advanced surveillance and technology to combat kidnapping, banditry and terrorism. He promised to put in more effort in protecting ungoverned spaces and forests.
ALSO READ: Images From Military’s Commitment to Transparency, National Unity, and Strategic Communication
Some thought that President Tinubu’s visit was an avenue for Katsina State govt and APC stakeholders, plus traditional rulers to fight the President. Dr. Dikko Radda had the emotional intelligence to handle the event with great hospitality, while getting the best for Katsina out of Mr. President. What did they expect from Katsina ‘Dakin Kara’? Come on! The event created the Omologo banger, and Mr. President left Katsina in merriment mode. All the requests and submissions put to him by the governor will definitely be approved in jolliness. Mr. President’s remarks over former President Buhari should also put to bed those unscrupulous and hoodwinking attempts to create a so called rift between the two. The idea that fPMB is heralding a move to send his supporters to join the opposition which has refused to coalesce anyway, is just hogwash. The use of body language is now over for those ones and out of vogue, as PMB has expressly stated his support for President ABAT and his loyalty to his party the APC. This he has done more than twice in recent weeks. Dikko Radda has inadvertently laid the platform for cementing the APC/ Katsina stronghold. In the last Katsina stakeholders meeting hosted by Dikko Radda, we saw PMB give out cash to a musician. The first ever! So for the discerning minds Katsina remains APC. For the true lovers of Katsina, Dikko Radda is firmly on track, fulfilling his campaign promises.
Gwagware: Counting Promises
