About 500 thugs who are members of notorious ‘ Sara Suka ‘ surrendered their weapons to the Bauchi State police yesterday. Governor Bala Mohammed and Police Commissioner Habu Sani received the ex-bandits, mostly youths, at the headquarters of the command.
Habu said Sara Suka’s robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes could be drastically reduced by the police under his watch through collaboration with other security agencies and volunteer groups.
One of the thugs, Rilwan Ibrahim, told reporters that they were driven into banditry by lack of education and unemployment, but they see reasons for embracing peace. He said: “We plead with the government and police to release our colleagues who have been in their custody for years to join us in embracing peace. We want the government to give us a job or create empowerment scheme for us because we don’t want to go back to hooliganism”
Mr. Rabiu Shamba, Chairman of the Bauchi State Youths for Peace and Unity, said he was able to mobilize them from the grassroots and persuade them to surrender to government for peace and developed society.
In his reaction, the governor praised their readiness to surrender their weapons and pledged to give priority to empowering the youth to cater for their future. Bala, who was represented by his staff chief, Abubakar Kari, assured them of the willingness of the government to bring state youth out of extreme poverty.
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