Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Tension has reached a boiling point in Rinjin Idi community, Matazu Local Government Area of Katsina State, after armed bandits issued a chilling ultimatum demanding a levy of ₦10 million from residents and warning that they would invade the village on Friday, May 22, 2026, if the money was not paid. According to multiple residents who spoke on condition of anonymity, the bandits delivered the threat in a message passed through intermediaries, leaving the agrarian community in a state of panic and despair. Many families have already begun vacating their homes, fleeing to nearby towns or relocating to camps for internally displaced persons, as they count down the hours to the Friday deadline.
“We are living in fear. The bandits said if we don’t pay, they will come and kill us. We don’t have that kind of money,” a resident told Stone Reporters News. The ultimatum is the latest in a series of extortion demands that have become a terrifyingly routine feature of life in rural Katsina, where bandits increasingly operate as parallel tax collectors, imposing levies on vulnerable communities and enforcing payment with threats of violence. In this case, the demand came just days after the arrest of a suspected bandit informant in the same Matazu LGA, a 45-year-old man named Surajo Isyaku who confessed to participating in two kidnapping operations in Sayaya village, where victims allegedly paid a total ransom of ₦7 million.
The levy on Rinjin Idi community is not an isolated incident. Over the past month, bandit levies have been reported across multiple local government areas in Katsina State. In April 2026, residents of several villages in Dan-Musa and Matazu local government areas were ordered to pay ₦5 million as a form of tax, a demand that came despite a peace agreement reached between local stakeholders and the bandits in November 2025. In Bakori LGA, bandits loyal to a notorious armed leader, Isiya Kwashen Garwa, reportedly imposed a levy of ₦10 million on two communities, Garin Lamido and Yan Shuni, bringing the total demand to ₦20 million. In Malumfashi LGA, bandits imposed a ₦5 million levy on Gidan Mai Jimina and Garangozai communities, also demanding a new motorcycle and threatening severe consequences if their demands were not met. In Faskari and Bakori LGAs, bandits imposed a separate ₦10 million levy on several farming communities as a condition for residents to access their farmlands during the wet season.
The extortion racket has taken a heavy toll on the state’s agrarian economy. Farmers in affected areas have warned that continued insecurity could severely disrupt agricultural activities, threaten crop production, and undermine food security. Some communities have begun consultations and are exploring ways to meet the demands in order to carry out farming activities, a development security analysts say only emboldens the bandits. “They don’t go to them; they come to us. Now they have placed a levy that we don’t even know how to pay. Government should please come to our aid. What we need is a permanent solution, not a temporary one,” a resident of one of the affected communities told Newswatch Nigeria.
The recurrence of these levies has raised urgent questions about the sustainability of peace arrangements between communities and armed groups in Katsina State. For months, Governor Umaru Dikko Radda has promoted what his administration calls the “Katsina Model,” a community‑driven approach where affected communities initiate peace pacts with repentant bandits, with the state’s role limited to encouraging and supporting these efforts while maintaining law and order. The state government has also defended prisoner swaps, releasing detained bandits in exchange for abducted citizens, with officials citing nearly 1,000 captives freed across local government areas, including 33 in Matazu and 28 in Musawa. Yet, as recent attacks show, the peace deals have not translated into lasting safety. On April 5, 2026, armed bandits in large numbers blocked the Karadua–Musawa Road in Matazu LGA and opened fire on an oncoming vehicle, fatally shooting two persons. A police officer attached to the Matazu Division was also killed in the attack that day. At least three police officers were killed in renewed bandit attacks on Tangani and Sayaya communities of Musawa and Matazu LGAs on Easter Sunday.
For the people of Rinjin Idi, the immediate concern is not the long-term sustainability of peace deals but survival. With the Friday deadline fast approaching, they face an impossible choice: pay a ransom they cannot afford or stay and face an armed invasion. Many have chosen flight. “We have no choice but to run. The government cannot protect us,” one evacuee said. As of the time of this report, the Katsina State Police Command had not issued an official statement on the Rinjin Idi ultimatum. The state government, through its Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr. Nasir Mu’azu, has previously insisted that the administration will not negotiate with bandits but will continue to pursue decisive measures aimed at eliminating banditry. But for the people of Rinjin Idi, those decisive measures cannot come soon enough. The clock is ticking, and Friday is only hours away.
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