A notorious Katsina bandit kingpin, Kachalla Maha, reportedly turned to peace talks after an alleged gunrunner disappeared with ₦95 million meant for the purchase of weapons, a lawmaker has revealed.
Hon. Abdullahi Aliyu, the lawmaker representing Musawa/Matazu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, said the shocking discovery was made during investigations into the activities of bandits terrorising communities in the two local government areas of Katsina State.
According to Aliyu, Kachalla Maha, a feared bandit leader accused of unleashing terror on residents, allegedly handed over money to a suspected arms dealer to procure weapons, only for the supplier to disappear and cut off all communication.
The lawmaker, who spoke during an interview with Hausa NTA, described the incident as one of the most surprising revelations from ongoing security operations.
“The most painful part is that we discovered someone had defrauded a bandit. This Muhammadu you are hearing about was a gunrunner. He collected the bandit’s money on the promise of buying weapons for him but disappeared after blocking his contact,” Aliyu said.
He explained that the alleged scam left the bandit leader desperate, forcing him to push for a peace meeting with stakeholders in a bid to resolve the crisis.
According to him, the bandit kingpin made the arrest of the suspected gunrunner one of his conditions before any peace arrangement could proceed.
“During the discussions, he said there was someone he wanted to hand over first before anything else could happen,” Aliyu said.
The lawmaker said Kachalla Maha later identified the alleged arms supplier and revealed that the money had been transferred through Point of Sale (POS) operators in Matazu.
He added that while the bandit initially claimed the amount involved was ₦29 million, investigations later uncovered a much bigger figure.
“After investigation, we discovered that the actual amount was ₦95 million, not ₦29 million. The money was moved through POS operators and fuel stations before reaching the gunrunner,” Aliyu said.
Aliyu said security operatives tracked the transactions after obtaining court orders to trace the OPay-linked accounts used in the transfers.
He added that the suspected gunrunner was eventually arrested after investigators followed the money trail.
The lawmaker lamented what he described as the role of some community members in worsening insecurity by allegedly providing weapons, logistics and information to criminal groups.
He accused local collaborators of helping bandits strengthen their operations while failing to alert authorities about their activities.
“The people supporting them are living among us. They provide logistics, supplies and information, yet they act as if nothing is happening,” he said.
Aliyu warned that the fight against banditry would remain difficult unless communities confronted those assisting criminal elements.
He described the alleged activities of local collaborators as “sabotage from within,” adding that continued investigations were exposing more details about the networks sustaining insecurity in the region.
“May Allah continue to expose those responsible. The more we investigate, the more we discover that the problem is greater than people realise,” he said.
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