Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has revealed the identity of bandits terrorising residents across the country.
Mr Masari in an interview on Monday revealed that his kinsmen from the Fulani extraction were those troubling the peace of the nation.
When he took over as Katsina helmsman in 2015, he granted amnesty to the criminals a year after in a bid to restore peace in the state. He repeated same after being re-elected in 2019 but all his attempts failed.
The state is where President Muhammadu Buhari hails from and one of the bandits-plagued states nationwide.
While featuring on Channels Television, the governor explained that the arrowheads of insecurity are Fulanis who migrated into the country from neighbouring countries.
“Majority of those involved in this banditry are Fulanis. Whether (this revelation) is palatable or not, but that’s the truth,” Mr Masari maintained. “I’m not saying 100 per cent of them are Fulanis. But the majority of them are.
“They are people who speak the same language like me, who profess the same religion like me. So what we have here on the ground, these bandits, they are not aliens.
“They are people we know. They are people that have been living with us for 100 years. The infiltration we have from other African countries are also people of Fulani extraction,” he added.
His comments have earned him a backlash from Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, the umbrella body of violent herdsmen.
The national secretary of the pastoralists, Saleh Alhassan, described the governor as a drunkard and a confused being and as such should not be taken serious.
“Did you take that drunkard serious? My governor, do you take him serious? Can’t you see that he is already tired?” he queried Sahara Reporters when contacted. “Records should come from security operatives, not a confused human being.
“He knows them now, is he not a Fulani man? All of them talking, they are stealing security votes, they should find solutions, create ranches for these herders and accommodate them.
“Which people do you find along the Sahel Sahara desert? They are many tribes, is it by physique that you now identify a Fulani man? The bandits are criminals, why should you attach tribe to it, that’s why we are not happy. You don’t need to attach a tribe because it will affect innocent person.
“Forget that man, that man is the worst Governor Katsina has had; we are just praying for his time to lapse,” he added.
