Security operatives and government delegates have reportedly met with bandits’ representatives to strike a possible amnesty deal in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The meeting was reportedly held on Sunday morning at Kofa village, with several people from both government and security and bandits, in attendance.

A source, who attended the meeting but asked not to be named, said security operatives at the meeting included military personnel and that of the State Security Service (DSS).

He also said representatives of the council area, those of the Hakimin Batsari or local traditional leader, and members of the state government-owned Community Watch Corps (KWC), were in attendance.

“The bandits’ representatives who attended the meeting were armed with automatic weapons, and amongst them included a notorious terrorist, Abu Radde.”

Radde is known to have terrorized several communities in Batsari, Danmusa, Kankara, Jibia, and Safana council areas of the state, as well as communities in neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara states.

The source said during the meeting, the bandits released some abducted victims who were kidnapped in recent attacks, including several married women and a man.
He said the bandits had requested that they be allowed to move freely within the community and other neighbouring ones, and be allowed to go to Batsari market whenever they chose to.

Earlier, a similar meeting between security operatives and bandits’ representatives had taken place last year in the state, but it is unclear if the meeting achieved its intended purpose.

The state government under the leadership of Dr Dikko Radda, had vowed since coming to office last year that it would not negotiate with bandits but work closely with security operatives to tackle insecurity.

Former state governor, Aminu Masari, had granted amnesty to bandits on two occasions, but the agreement fell through the roof after attacks escalated on communities by groups that had initially accepted the amnesty deal.

The Batsari incident comes a few days after the Kaduna State government in collabotation with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), oversaw an amnesty deal with bandits in five council areas.

One of these councils was Burnin-Gwari, where cases of attacks, kidnappings, killings, and rustlings, had been ubiquitous.

As of the time of filing this report, the spokesperson for the police command, DSP Abubakar Aliyu, did not respond to inquiries on the Batsari incident.