Ex-NYSC Chief Claims Govt Officials Support Bandit Operations

Retired Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga, who previously served as Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, has claimed that people in positions of authority within government are offering support to bandits active throughout Nigeria. During a Kaduna press conference, Tsiga presented this assertion, basing it on his own ordeal—he endured roughly two months as a captive after being abducted in Katsina, his native town, earlier in the year.

According to Tsiga's recounting, the crisis involving bandits encompasses more than just armed groups occupying forests. He outlined a substantial network of backing that encompasses those furnishing data, logistical aid, and materials to criminal outfits.

These backers, Tsiga indicated, maintain ties to authority and governmental rank, though he refrained from identifying any particular administrators during his remarks to the media. Tsiga contends that talks between the government and bandits, pursued independently, cannot solve Nigeria's worsening security challenges.

He underscored that breaking apart the systems propping up bandit groups represents a prerequisite for tackling the underlying causes of insecurity. His analysis, offered by a retired high-ranking officer, ties continuous assistance from above to why bandit attacks keep happening and spreading across Nigeria's regions.

These declarations emerge during a period when Nigeria faces persistent challenges from criminal gangs engaged in abductions, armed assault, and theft in many regions. Tsiga's account, based on direct experience in confinement, reinforces long-held beliefs among military and security personnel that bandits enjoy backing or advantage stemming from state and governmental circles.

His statements, made by a former leader of the NYSC, constitute an open expression of these suspicions from someone of retired senior military rank.