In my first article on Dr Dikko Radda, titled, ‘Dikko Radda on my radar’, in November 2022, when he was APC’s gubernatorial candidate in Katsina state, I stated that not only was Dr. Radda the most qualified candidate in terms of academic laurels, and experience in public service, I predicated my support for him, based on his unique experience with banditry. He had lost one of his brothers to the killings by the bandits, and another brother of his had to be rescued from the bandits after paying a ransom. Katsina has been ravaged by the worst of the banditry that had befallen the North-west and who better to lead Katsina in the fight against this hydra-headed monster? The experience of losing a loved one and rescuing another from the bandits has definitely built Dr. Radda into the most formidable candidate to fight banditry and restore peace in Katsina state. He had become the proverbial wounded lion who had a pound of flesh to take, and a score to settle with those inhumane rascals who have made themselves a cog in the wheel of progress of Katsina state. Without security, there is nothing you would do or bring to Katsina, that would make it flourish. Security is paramount.
I was so certain that Dr. Radda would come prepared and little did he surprise. After intensive training by military, police and civil defense personnel, Governor Radda has launched a Community Security Watch Corps. The first batch comprises 1,456 personnel who were drawn from the different communities across the state, who have been suffering from security challenges. Each ward in the state has representatives in the Security Watch Corps. They were trained in the art of intelligence gathering, among many other security procedures and techniques. 64 Hilux vans have been provided for the operatives along with hundreds of motorcycles for the smooth running of their corps.
The war against banditry has always been an asymmetrical one. The need to incorporate the communities involved is a no brainer. The communities know where it hurts the most and they know those that hit them. Most of the time the bandits use locals for their operations and some of the locals join the bandit forces. So, there is no better way of fighting this scourge, than to also use the inhabitants of the communities to gather intelligence on the movements, location, timing and other necessary details of the bandits and the nature of their operations. Governor Radda visited each ward of the local government areas in Katsina during the campaigns and studied well, the challenges of the communities, and saw first hand, what the villagers were facing. His first and foremost campaign promise was to provide security in Katsina and, so far, he is delivering on that promise.
On my visit to Katsina in September 2022, I was part of the governor’s entourage that toured more than half of the local government areas in the state. He was commissioning one road project after another, and one school after the other. Our tour continued through the night, as we were on the roads way past midnight. I could sense fear and apprehension in the entourage, but the governor kept going; not a whiff of fear around him. It was as if he was on a campaign tour, once again, only this time, it was a tour of projects. It was reported on December 9, 2023, that Dr. Radda joined a combined team of security operatives to foil a bandit attack on Zakka Community of Safana local government area. The governor was in the area to commission projects when the distress call came in, and he joined the operatives of Hadarin Daji to go after the terrorists. Some of the terrorists were vanquished while some ran away. The effort was able to rescue some hostages from the raid of the bandits. It was not the first time the governor would be joining the security operatives in their operations. It has confirmed the notion that the governor is a wounded lion as far as terrorists in Katsina are concerned.
Governor Radda’s security Watch Corp has had a spiral effect, as the governors’ of Zamfara and Sokoto are following suit, in commissioning neighbourhood/ community security networks in their respective states. Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state calls it the Community Protection Guard, while Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto state calls it Community Guards Corps. All these are aimed in complementing the efforts of the security forces who are laying down their lives for the protection of our communities. The issue of community policing has been on the front burner of national discourse for decades. The advent of banditry has more than ever, made a case for community policing, such that communities would one way or the other, be involved in the security of their domains. They are the ones with the best interest of the communities at heart, and they are the ones that suffer the brunt the most.
It would be great to see this Dikko Radda initiative replicated in all the North-western states where banditry reigns supreme. Community Watch Corps in all the local government areas of the states would build a formidable force against the miscreants that have made killing and raiding communities their order of the day. A synergy between the corps would be effective in combating those bandits that move from one local government area to the other, and from one state to the other. The results in Katsina are astounding and the attacks by bandits are now few and far between. The consolidated efforts of the corps and security operatives are definitely yielding fruits.
Tahir is Talban Bauchi.
