Radda Confirms Peace Talks With Bandits

 

 

Radda Confirms Peace Talks With Bandits in Katsina

 

Governor Dikko Umar Radda has confirmed that his administration is holding peace talks with bandits in Katsina State, a move he said has already restored stability in some troubled communities.

 

The governor, who had earlier distanced his government from such negotiations, disclosed that the dialogue has brought relative calm to Jibia, Batsari, Danmusa, and Kurfi local government areas.

 

Radda made the revelation at the launch of an EU-funded project on Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience (CPCRR) in Katsina. The initiative, implemented by the International Organisation for Migration in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development and Mercy Corps, targets vulnerable communities in Katsina and Zamfara states.

 

“This is not a top-down intervention. It is community-owned, locally-led and culturally sensitive. We are making progress in four frontline local governments and talks are ongoing in two others,” Radda said.

 

 

 

The governor lamented that insecurity had forced schools and markets to shut down, farmlands to be abandoned, and thousands of families displaced across eight frontline councils – Jibia, Batsari, Danmusa, Kankara, Safana, Sabuwa, Faskari, and Dandume.

 

He also listed drought, desertification, shrinking farmlands, and youth unemployment as factors fueling the crisis.

 

IOM Chief of Mission, Dimanche Sharon, said the project would reach over 95,000 people in Katsina and Zamfara, adding that more than 1.3 million residents of the North-West had been displaced as of February 2025.

 

“Too many families have been displaced, too many farms abandoned, and too many lives disrupted by insecurity. Yet the people of Katsina and Zamfara continue to show resilience and determination to rebuild,” Sharon said.

 

 

 

The EU-backed programme is designed to address the root causes of conflict and strengthen community resilience in the North-West.