Katsina governor offers reintegration to repentant bandits

Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda has extended an olive branch to bandits operating in the region, urging them to abandon their arms and embrace peace and reintegration into society. Speaking on Thursday at the inauguration of 152 mass housing units for internally displaced persons in Jibia Local Government Area, Radda emphasized that genuine repentance and honest labor are the pathways to achieving peace and prosperity.

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To those our brothers and sisters in the bush or in the forest, to those who still raise weapons against our own people, to those who have taken to banditry, kidnapping and violence, hear me very well today. There is a better way.

"To those our brothers and sisters in the bush or in the forest, to those who still raise weapons against our own people, to those who have taken to banditry, kidnapping and violence, hear me very well today. There is a better way," the governor declared. He assured that the doors for dialogue, repentance, and reintegration remain open, offering the same housing, grants, and opportunities available to others, but attainable through peace rather than bloodshed.

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The doors for dialogue, repentance and reintegration remain open to you. Lay down your arms, come back to your families, come back to your communities.

Radda highlighted the newly completed housing project as a symbol of hope and resolute action. The initiative, a collaboration between the Katsina State Government and development partners, provided each beneficiary family with a house, mattresses, blankets, cooking stoves, rice, and a cash grant of N200,000. "These houses are far more than walls and roofs. They are a promise kept to internally displaced families who endured the cruel pain of banditry, kidnapping and violent crime," he stated, aiming to restore dignity to those who have lost loved ones and homes.

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The same houses, the same grants, the same opportunities being delivered here today can be yours tomorrow, not through fear, not through bloodshed, but through peace, good governance and honest labour.

The governor also noted that the Jibia intervention extends beyond housing to include the construction of a Climate Peace Entrepreneurship Centre, solar mini-grid electrification, a veterinary clinic, market stalls, and VIP toilets, underscoring a comprehensive approach to rebuilding lives and communities affected by prolonged insecurity.

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Choose your children over your weapons, choose prosperity over destruction and choose life.