A 34-year-old drug store owner in Tashar Yar Alewa community in Danmusa local government of Katsina State, Murtala Umar, says he provided medical assistance to bandits because they threatened to kill him.
Umar disclosed this when he was paraded along with other bandits at the state Police Command in Katsina on Tuesday.
“I have no choice but to cooperate because they usually come with their guns,” he said.
He said he treated bandits of gunshots and helped them with drugs, even though he knew they were criminals.
Although Tashar Yar Alewa was one of the worst-hit communities by banditry in the state, Umar said he had never been a victim of bandits’ attack, which made people suspicious of him.
“I studied in one of the Health institutions in the Katsina metropolis but I have not been working. The bandits usually come to my shop and seek my assistance which I obliged and they paid me accordingly,” he said.
“I regret my actions now and I’ll never do that again”
Spokesperson of the state police command, Gambo Isa, also paraded a notorious bandit, Ibrahim Sama’ila.
Sama’ila, popularly known as Yellow, said, “I am a bandit. It’s not an allegation.”
”I engage in cattle rustling, kidnapping, I also steal. So, this is not an allegation. But I’m now regretting it. That is how Allah destined it to be.”
The police spokesperson said seven women and their children have been rescued from bandits.
