Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari has urged residents of the state to stand firm, fight and defend themselves from the intimidation of bandits in their communities.

He said it is ridiculous that citizens are not defending themselves against bandit attacks.

The Governor made the comment on Friday while speaking at the Katsina police headquarters, where he inaugurated the Katsina Joint Security Operations and Communication Control Centre meant to assist security agencies operating in the state.

According to Masari, Katsina residents cannot simply rely on security agencies to solve the problem of insecurity.

Security is our responsibility, why are we surrendering our responsibility to some people? I cannot see how more committed a police officer or military officer can be more than anyone of you.

“Why should I sit in my village and be only making telephone calls without doing nothing?

“Every bandit, every criminal has an address, has a location, and they are human beings like us. The only difference is that they have taken arms against us; does it mean we have nothing to take against them?

“Do we mean we should vacate all our villages, all our farms, all our houses, and surrender them to bandits, and wait for police officer Emeka all the way from Enugu to come to Katsina and rescue me? This is ridiculous. Why?

“I think part of what this Katsina initiative needs to do is to go round all these local governments, let us talk to the people, defend yourselves,” he said.

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