The Governor of Katsina State said bandits have been recruiting young people into criminal activities for as little as N500, a disturbingly low amount of money that speaks to the gravity of the situation.

Governor Dikko Radda made this known on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ where he discussed the issue of banditry in Nigeria, revealing in the interview that bandits are exploiting poverty to recruit young people for as little as N500.

He said, “The issue of the hypothesis behind political motive as responsible for banditry is not true.

“Secondly, what also causes the recruitment of under the logistics services for bandits was a result of poverty because surprisingly with N5,000, N2,000, and N500, you can be able to convince some of these youths to join into this exercise which brings about money.

“Now it has turned out to be a business venture. A business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government; and some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people.

“These are so many reasons why we are unable to bring banditry to an end.”