A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Katsina State, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, has chided the ongoing peace deal with bandits in the state, describing it as meaningless since bandits don’t surrender their weapons.

Inuwa, a former state Director-General for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign team, lamented that bandits have continued to perpetrate atrocities in parts of the state despite the peace deal.

His criticism followed peace negotiations entered into by about a dozen frontline council areas that have been faced with incessant security challenges in the state.

During such peace negotiations, most of the bandits in attendance were seen wielding automatic weapons, with many of them wearing military camouflage uniforms and boots.

The development, which has elicited negative reactions from some quarters including the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), has, however, been seen as a sign of achievement by the state government and some observers.

The ADC chieftain, who was former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) during ex-governor Aminu Bello Masari’s administration, had himself been involved in granting amnesty to bandits on two occasions.

The program, which saw several automatic and non-automatic weapons collected from repentant bandits and destroyed, however, backfired a few months after it was reached.

In the aftermath, the security situation in the state was reported to have escalated, with Governor Dikko Radda lamenting then that about 22 councils were facing varied degrees of attacks by bandits.

Though relative peace has returned to the state following recent peace negotiations, critics have continued to express concern over its sustainability.

Inuwa said peace negotiations cannot benefit citizens if bandits are still allowed to keep their weapons while enslaving villagers by forcing them into farming or other related labour.

He said to guarantee lasting security through a peace deal, government must collect all weapons from the bandits, even as he lamented that attacks have continued despite government’s claim of improved security in the state.