Some youths and residents of Katsina State have obtained catapults, saying they will begin to stone bandits in the state, in line with the advice of the state government.

Governor Aminu Masari had enjoined residents of the state recently to use whatever means they could to protect themselves from the bandits in the face of the growing failure by security agencies to protect the people from recurring attacks.

The governor had told them to fight the gun-wielding bandits with whatever means they have, including with their teeth.

Meanwhile, the bandits are armed with AK-47s and other sophisticated firearms.

According to the youths, the exercise is in response to Governor Aminu Ballo Masari’s directive that people of the State should defend themselves against bandit attacks.

Masari, during the inauguration of Katsina Joint Security Operations and Communication Control Centre, had stated that it was ridiculous that people in the state were not defending themselves against bandits’ attack.

He had said,

Why should I sit in my village and be only making telephone calls without doing anything?

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?

Some of the youths who got the catapults, included the members of the Katsina State Peoples Democratic Party Social Media Organisation.

In an obvious ridicule of the state government for its ineffectiveness, the youths stated that they had heeded the call of the governor and had started sharpening their skills in the use of locally made catapults for self-defence against armed bandits.

They said the exercise is tagged “Operation Catapult Shoot.”

Nuraddeen Kankara, the state Chairman of the group, led other members and residents to launch the catapult training exercise in Katsina metropolis.

He said,

We embark on the exercise in compliance with the recent directive issued by the Katsina State government and we are determined to expand the exercise across local government areas of the state.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.