The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has disclosed that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would be deployed in Katsina and Zamfara states to curb the activities of bandits.
He stated this in Katsina at a luncheon organised to mark Eid-El-Kabir with troops in the northwestern states.
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Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina state in a remark had claimed that only 30 police officers are currently providing security in 100 villages in the state.
Masari said the number of the police officers is inadequate to cover the villages, revealing that his administration is working to amend laws of the state to give power to local authorities to curb activities of bandits in their areas.
He said the hoodlums “have blended” into the communities, making it very hard to differentiate them from the locals.
“This would complement ongoing efforts to emplace a robust community policing structure, whilst addressing the gross deficit in the number of police personnel available at local levels, which is in the range of an average of about 30 policemen to about 100 villages,” the former house of representatives speaker said.
“Even if the bandits were wiped out by the military, another generation of criminal elements would quickly take their place in the absence of governance and adequate policing.
“The bandits are intertwined within the communities so sometimes it may be difficult for the NAF or the army to distinguish them from the locals in order to conduct offensive operations devoid of collateral damage.
“The locals must stop giving support, information or safe havens to these criminals.”
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