Katsina government, police, insist terrorist turned chief, still wanted

Following the coronation of the notorious terrorist, Ada Aleru, as the Sarkin Fulanin Yandoto by Emir of Ynadoton Daji, Aliyu Marafa, the Katsina government and the police command in the state have said the terrorist is still a wanted person.

The conferment of the traditional title on Mr Aleru has generated uproar in the country.

Few hours after the coronation ceremony, the Zamfara State government suspended the Emir and dissociated itself from the decision to make Mr Aleru the leader of all Fulanis in the Emirate, as the title suggests.

In 2019, Katsina police placed a bounty of N5 million for anyone who provided information that would lead to the arrest of Mr Aleru.

Mr Aleru is believed to have led the attack on Kadisau Community in Faski Local Government Area, killing 52 residents. He said the attack was in protest of the arrest of his son, Sulaiman.

He was declared wanted for crimes that include culpable homicide, terrorism, armed robbery and kidnapping in the state.

We’ve not forgiven him – Masari

Speaking to BBC Hausa on Tuesday morning, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, said the state government has not forgiven the terrorist.

He said he was surprised that an emir in neighbouring Zamfara conferred a traditional title on the terrorist.

Mr Masari insisted that even if Mr Aleru has accepted to live peacefully with the communities in Zamfara, his government still considers him a terrorist.

Katsina and Zamfara share boundaries on two sides; Zurmi – Jibia and Tsafe – Faskari. Tsafe – Faskari is where Mr Aleru operates and he attacks communities in the two states, especially those on the boundaries.

Mr Masari said when he heard of the conferment, he tried reaching out to his counterpart in Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, but was not successful.

“It’s surprising because Katsina and Zamfara are the same. If a neighbor doesn’t support his neighbor, do you think he would be supported in his time of travails. So, it surprised me how they looked away from the travail of their neighbors (Katsina). It affected them too because a traitor, when he is done with your enemy, would turn towards you.

“We’ve not forgiven him and just as the police in Katsina said, they’re still looking for him. For me, the one I’ve business with is the governor (Zamfara governor) and I tried reaching out to him but he is not around and I did not get him. The police command here (Katsina) has the responsibility to reach out to the police in Zamfara to know what’s actually going on,” he said.

He said he would discuss the issue with Mr Matawalle though he had learnt that the state government has suspended the Emir over the coronation.

READ ALSO: Zamfara government suspends Emir after coronation of wanted terrorist

“The suspension of the Emir and inauguration of an investigative committee show the state government is taking action. So, we’ll arrest him when we see him. The only issue is that, the police in Katsina can’t go to Zamfara and arrest him. So, if he dares enter Katsina again, we’ll arrest him so that he can answer for his crimes. Even if they said he has stopped, we know that here in Katsina, he is still killing people. His boys are still killing people,” he added.

He is a terrorist – Katsina police

In the same vein, the police command’s spokesperson, Gambo Isa, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Aleru is still a terrorist.

He said he was surprised at the coronation of Mr Aleru. He added that the terrorist is still wanted by his command.

“We’ve seen what he did in Kadisau and Faskari where over 200 including women and children people were killed by him (Mr Aleru). That’s why we declared him wanted.”

He said the command still considers him one of the most-wanted on its list.

“We declared him wanted and we’re still looking for him. So, the N5 million bounty is still in place because the people of Katsina have not forgotten his atrocities. Even now, anyone who brings him to us would get that bounty. We’ve still not cancelled the ‘wanted’ declaration.”