Assistant Inspector-General Bello Shehu, in charge of Police Zone 14 covering Katsina and Kaduna States, has directed tactical units to intensify operations against banditry and violent crime. The order, issued on Saturday and communicated through Zone 14's police spokesperson, ASP Umar Muhammad, mandates commissioners of police in both states to deploy specialised units to dismantle criminal networks. The directive follows the Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu's operational strategy to counter rising insecurity. Shehu ordered visible and sustained police presence in high-risk zones, including forests, rural communities, highways, and places of worship. Tactical units have been placed on red alert, with instructions for continuous patrols and strict operational discipline. The AIG also directed enhanced collaboration with other security agencies to improve intelligence sharing and response times. Joint operations are expected to strengthen coordination in tracking and neutralising threats. Supervisory officers are required to ensure accountability and efficiency among personnel. Residents of Katsina and Kaduna were urged to support security efforts by reporting suspicious activities promptly.
Bello Shehu's directive exposes the depth of insecurity in Katsina and Kaduna, where banditry has persisted despite repeated security overhauls. The fact that tactical units must be placed on red alert again suggests previous operations failed to deliver lasting results, raising questions about the effectiveness of current strategies under IGP Olatunji Disu's broader framework. Simply redeploying the same units without addressing intelligence gaps or community trust may amount to tactical repetition without strategic progress.
The emphasis on joint operations and inter-agency collaboration points to systemic fragmentation within the security architecture. If agencies still require urgent coordination to respond to known threats, it reveals a deeper issue: siloed information and weak operational integration. The instruction to patrol forests and rural communities underscores how large swathes of these states remain outside effective state control, with civilians bearing the brunt of delayed responses and inconsistent presence.
Ordinary residents in rural Katsina and Kaduna face continued exposure to violence, regardless of police directives. For farmers, traders, and worshippers, the promise of increased patrols offers little assurance if those patrols lack local intelligence or community cooperation. The appeal for public vigilance places an unfair burden on vulnerable populations already living in fear.
This is not an isolated security alert but part of a recurring cycle: rising attacks, a public directive, temporary operations, then silence. Without measurable outcomes or transparency on past failures, such orders risk becoming performative rather than transformative.
