Kastina State Government has lamented continued security challenges bedevilling some parts of the state, saying communities and informants are responsible for 80 per cent of the situation in the state.

The Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasir Muazu, made this known while speaking with newsmen on Thursday.

Muazu said that some community members who own shops were in the habit of selling their products to bandits at exorbitant prices, making it difficult to obtain their cooperation in addressing the security challenge.

He said, “In one of the communities affected by insecurity, a man was found to be selling a bottle of Coca-Cola for N3,000; another sold fuel for N5,000 per litre to bandits.

“Hard drugs that are usually sold for little amounts of money at pharmacies and other related centres are sold in millions of naira by community members to the bandits.”

He said some community members often connive with bandits to abduct hapless victims, including family members.

“In another case, we found a man who connived with bandits to abduct his biological father, who was diabetic. When the bandits brought him to their hideout, they had already bought him diabetic tablets for his daily consumption.

“The sum of N30 million was paid as ransom for the man, and N8 million was given to the man for compromising and allowing his father to be abducted,” he added.

Muazu also said informants are known to alert bandits whenever Nigeria Air Force (NAF) jets leave the airport with the aim of bombing their hideouts.

He said that the jet fighters often fail to acquire their target and frequently have to return to base due to unsuccessful missions.

He said that the jet fighters have now devised a tactic to pretend they are flying to neighbouring Kano or Kaduna state, then fly back to the target destination in Katsina.

The commissioner revealed that the activities of bandits constitute only about 20 per cent of the security challenge, lamenting that tackling insecurity in the state can only be addressed with cooperation from affected communities.

He said the state government has made headway in several councils in tackling insecurity using kinetic measures, but that the non-kinetic measures were also important to ensure a lasting end to the problem.

He called on public members to come forward with sensitive information that would lead to viable solutions in addressing insecurity, assuring that such information would be treated with utmost confidentiality.