Matawalle: We’ll end banditry in Katsina within two months with 50 armoured vehicles

Bello Matawalle, the minister of state for defence, says the military can eliminate bandits from Katsina forests with 50 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) within two months.

Matawalle spoke on Tuesday when he appeared before the house of representatives committee on defence to defend the ministry’s 2025 budget.

The north-west, including Katsina, has been grappling with banditry in recent years.

The minister said the N50 billion earmarked for the ministry by the federal government in the 2025 budget is inadequate to tackle insecurity in the country.

“And for us in the ministry, we have a lot of challenges. Look at the budget of 2025, just N50 billion,” he said.

Matawalle said the ministry’s 2025 budget is down by N18 billion compared to the 2024 appropriation.

He said despite the insufficient allocation, “people expect the ministry to do wonders” in tackling insecurity.

“I was in Sokoto. Nobody sponsored me to go to Sokoto. I did it just to ensure that people sleep with their two eyes closed,” he said.

“My colleague Abubakar Badaru (minister of defence) went to Zamfara and Katsina, and it was the same thing because there is no provision in the budget.

“In fact, the ministry of defence is supposed to provide some equipment for some of the zones, but we cannot. Out of what we have in 2024, we were able to provide just 20 armoured personnel carriers (APCs).

“What can 20 APCs do? In Katsina alone, if we can have 50 APCs that can go inside the bush to flush out those criminals, I assure you, within two months, we’ll finish the issue of banditry. But there is no provision for that.

“People have been complaining that money is being given to defence but this is what we have. And people are expecting us to do extra things out of the budget.”

The minister urged the lawmakers to consider increasing the ministry’s budgetary allocation to enable it to procure equipment to tackle insecurity.

“Insecurity is all over the country. If you go to south-west, south-east, north-east, north-central and north-west. But if you look at the budget of 2025, N50 billion is the budget of the ministry of defence,” Matawalle said.

“Other people outside are thinking that the whole money of Nigeria is going into the ministry of defence. It is not like that. You know about that.

“We could not renovate any barracks in 2024. We have a lot of complaints. We cannot be able to pay some of their entitlements.

“They are into theatres of operations. We cannot pay (them). In fact, this month, I had to write a letter to Mr. President to pay the presidential guards. The money was not there.

“So, Mr. Chairman, I believe this committee can look into the issue of the ministry of defence to see how you can be able to squeeze and add more funding to the ministry so that at least you can expect more from us.”

Babajimi Benson, chairman of the committee, commended the military for “achieving significant progress in countering insurgency, terrorism, banditry, and other forms of insecurity”.

Benson said the parliament is committed to supporting our armed forces to secure the country.

“We remain steadfast in our resolve to ensure a peaceful, secure, and prosperous Nigeria. This budget defence is, therefore, not just a legislative exercise but a reaffirmation of our collective responsibility to the Nigerian people,” he said.