Bandits may be getting support from those in authority – Ex-NYSC DG

By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo

Former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga (retd.), has alleged that bandits terrorising communities across Northern Nigeria may be receiving support from certain persons in positions of authority.

Tsiga made the assertion in Kaduna while speaking with journalists during a press conference organised by colleagues, friends and associates of the late Major-General Rabe Abubakar (retd.), who died in bandits’ captivity after being abducted in Katsina State.

The retired general, who himself spent several weeks in captivity following his abduction from his hometown in Katsina in February, said his experience among the bandits exposed the existence of a vast network of informants, suppliers and collaborators operating outside the forests.

According to him, the activities of these support networks have enabled criminal gangs to sustain their operations despite ongoing military offensives and security measures.

Tsiga argued that tackling insecurity requires more than negotiations with armed groups, insisting that authorities must aggressively pursue those involved in supporting banditry.

“It depends on who you are negotiating with and how committed and dedicated we are in making that negotiation,” he said.
“I am telling you that no matter what, and no matter the arrangement of negotiation, we are not going to have it easy with these bandits. We must follow them aggressively. We should not forget one thing: these people are human beings like us. They fear death.

“When we were in captivity, they feared death. They feared anybody who would come and challenge them, fight them and finish them,” he added.

Recounting one of his experiences in captivity, Tsiga narrated how a suspected supplier contacted a bandit leader in the early hours of the morning to discuss the sale of ammunition.
“One of the days I was there around 2 a.m., this issue came up. Somebody called and said, ‘Please, Kachala, are you ready to buy 10 cartons of ammunition?’

“He said, ‘Yes, but let me finish with one old man.’ When he finished talking and was talking to me, I asked him jokingly, ‘Put me inside this business now.’

“He said, ‘Who are you? You are a retired general. You don’t have office. We are talking to people who are in office now,’” Tsiga recounted.

The former NYSC boss said the statement left him deeply troubled and raised serious concerns about the possible sources of support available to armed groups operating in the region.

He called for a comprehensive strategy that targets not only bandits in the forests but also those providing them with logistics, intelligence, weapons and other forms of assistance.

Tsiga maintained that unless the entire network sustaining banditry is dismantled, efforts to restore lasting peace and security in the North may continue to face significant challenges.

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