I have failed to protect you, Masari tells Katsina residents

Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina, says he has failed in protecting the residents of the state from bandits.

Speaking with reporters at the government house in Katsina, Masari said he is a very unhappy person because the people have never had rest since he came on board as governor.

He said the bandits were “worse than animals” because they kill indiscriminately.

“I don’t know what to tell them. I cannot look at them in the face because we have failed to protect them, contrary to our pledge to ensure the security of lives and property throughout the state,” he said.

“I never expected the behaviour and the attitude of people living in the forests, the bandits, whose behaviour is worse than that of animals. In the forest, a lion or a tiger kills only when it is hungry and it doesn’t kill all animals, it only kills the one it can eat at a time.

“But what we see here is that bandits come to town, spray bullets, kill indiscriminately for no purpose and no reason whatsoever, like the recent massacre of people at Faskari and parts of Dandume local government area. They just killed the people. How can a human being behave the way an animal cannot behave?”

The governor added there are no innocent people in the forests.

“Our role is to complement efforts of the security agencies for which I believe we are doing nothing less than 90 per cent in terms of whatever is expected of us, based on resources available to us,” he said.

Masari’s comment comes after the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari and northern governors have failed in their responsibility to protect lives.

Masari’s administration had pulled out of a peace deal with bandits.