A notorious bandit commander, Kachalla Ummaru, has issued a warning to security agencies in Katsina State, insisting that a purely military approach to the region’s security crisis would only deepen the violence rather than resolve it.
Speaking over the weekend during a peace meeting between bandit groups and community leaders in Matazu Local Government Area, Ummaru declared that government offensives were fueling an endless cycle of bloodshed.
“If today you kill 10 bandits, tomorrow 20 more will emerge. You kill 20, another 30 will rise from our bushes and villages,” Ummaru said in a video obtained by counter-insurgency outlet Zagazola Makama.
The bandit kingpin accused the government of prioritizing revenue generation over citizens’ safety, adding that residents were also complicit by allegedly feeding intelligence to security operatives. He criticized what he described as staged military reports, where security forces claimed heavy casualties against bandits without tangible results.
Ummaru warned that peace talks would collapse unless security operatives pulled back from constant raids and stakeholders intervened whenever bandits were arrested or villagers abducted. Directing his remarks to the Divisional Police Officer of Danmusa LGA, he stressed that mutual respect was the only way dialogue could succeed.
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“It would be shameful if we come to you for something and you don’t do it, the same way it would be shameful if you ask us for something and we fail to do it. Let us help one another and live in peace,” he said.
The meeting in Matazu coincided with a broader peace push across Katsina, where two additional LGAs, Sabuwa and Dandume, signed accords with armed groups to end years of killings, kidnappings, and cattle rustling. The talks, convened in Kabalawa Dungun-Muazu, brought together council chairmen Engr. Sagir Tanimu of Sabuwa and Bashir Sabi’u Gyazama of Dandume, along with community stakeholders.
With the new agreements, nine LGAs in Katsina, Batsari, Kankara, Kurfi, Musawa, Danmusa, Jibia, Faskari, Sabuwa, and Dandume, have now entered peace pacts with bandit factions.
During the dialogue, the bandits pledged to cease hostilities and release abducted victims, but demanded the release of detained members and an end to vigilante reprisals during market visits. In return, local authorities promised to reopen the Dandume cattle market, which had been shut down due to insecurity, and to ensure the safety of armed groups during community interactions.
