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An investigation into banditry in Katsina State has revealed that some armed groups are demanding basic social amenities such as hospitals and schools in exchange for peace, the Managing Director of News Central TV, Kayode Akintemi, said on Thursday.
Akintemi said this during News Central TV’s Town Hall in Plateau State, themed: “The Middle Belt Question: Why Does the Violence Persist?”
“In Katsina recently, one of my reporters went into the bushes and spoke with one, actually three, of those that are called Kachalas, bandits,” Akintemi said.
“She (the investigative journalist) spoke with them. We still have the video and they’re saying that the only reason they’re bandits is because they are asking the state government to provide hospitals for our wives and our children, provide schools for our children, make it possible for us to educate them and we will have peace.”
According to Akintemi, the bandits have maintained their self-imposed ceasefire for six months without any response from authorities.
“For the last six months, these Kachalas have decided there will be peace in the villages where they operate in Katsina State, but the government have not provided the things they asked for,” he said.
Akintemi said he does not speak for anyone who believes in violence but added that governments have a duty to deliver basic services.
“I do not speak for anybody that believes in violence, but there is no need for any government to fail to deliver what it’s supposed to deliver. If there is needs for ranches to be provided, it is the duty of men to provide it. If there is needs for farmers to be secured, it’s the responsibility of government to do that. If there is needs for schools to be provided for anyone, it’s absolutely the duty of government,” he said.
Akintemi urged citizens to put aside their differences and hold leaders accountable, reminding the audience that political leaders derive their power from citizens.
“Every one of you here on election day will be wearing NDC, APC, shouting ‘Obi’, shouting ‘Tinubu’, shouting this. Do these people care about you? Do they care whether your children live or not? And yet you fight one another,” he stated.
“So please, I beg you, in the name of whatever you believe in, put your differences aside. Let’s sit here and hear everybody, and let’s find the solution that will endure, that will bring peace to this community, to this state, to this region and to Nigeria.
“So, whether somebody is saying something you don’t like or not, let’s hear them out and let’s pick whatever we want from what they say. And the ones we don’t want, swipe it away and let us move on. Because for everybody, they have something they’re demanding or expecting.”
“Without you, there will be no Tinubu, there will be no Atiku, there will be no Obi… Don’t let any of them divide you and create this kind of enmity…”
After moments of tension at the #NCTownHallSeries in Jos, Plateau State, News Central TV Managing Director, @KayodeAkintemi,… pic.twitter.com/d59Ojkt3ju
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) May 7, 2026
