The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari has narrated how bandits deceived him twice using the Qur’an in his office and yet failed to keep up with their side of the bargain.
Masari said he regrets the trust reposed in bandits to have a change of heart during negotiations after they swore with the Qur’an.
The Governor vowed never to trust them again, stressing that they deceived his government into believing that they had surrendered their weapons by swearing with the Qur’an.
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He disclosed this while hosting the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, in Katsina over the weekend.
According to Masari: ‘Because they (terrorists) said they are Muslims, we went as far as asking them to swear to the Holy Qur’an that they will never participate in banditry again.
‘All of them did it in this office, but even those that have been in jail for over two years that were brought out are today bandits’ leaders.
‘Anybody who says he is going to engage them on anything is free. I will pray for him but I will not do it again.’
Although Governor Masari said he never regretted his decision at the time, he admitted that information available to him confirmed that engaging the terrorists who had killed and raped innocent citizens in the state was not the right thing to do.
Consequently, he urged the United Nations Development Programme, European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) to support the Nigerian government with the provision of technologies that will enable security agencies to have access to the nation’s ungoverned forest areas.
He said: ‘Because they (terrorists) said they are Muslims, we went as far as asking them to swear to the Holy Qur’an that they will never participate in banditry again. All of them did in this office but even those that have been in jail for over two years that were brought out are today bandits’ leaders.
‘In fact, I will never trust them again because we realised they are not ideologically inclined. So, we are negotiating with thieves. Anybody who says he is going to engage them on anything is free. I will pray for him but I will not do it again.
‘They have failed me once; they have failed me twice so I will be a fool to go the same way. And you even see the Zamfara governor who engaged them. They have failed him more than three times.’
Masari added: ‘They are common criminals. Even in Katsina not to talk of Zamfara, there are more than 100 gangs: a gang of two, three, four and a gang of 10, so with whom are you going to talk?’
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that earlier, Yahya told the governor that the delegation was in the state to ascertain the security challenges afflicting the state and know what the international community can collectively do towards the development of the state.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
