Governor Duada Lawal has accused Nigeria’s security agencies of frustrating the onslaught against Zamfara bandits.

“We, as governors, don’t have control over the military. We don’t have control over the police as well as the civil defence. In most cases, we get frustrated,” Mr Lawal said Tuesday in an interview on Channels TV.

He added, “Sometimes when you’re really helpless. When you need them (security agents), they are not there. Even when they are there, they are given certain instructions on what to do and not what to do.”

The Zamfara governor said though the whereabouts of the bandits were known, they continued to terrorise the state because there was no political will to tackle them.

“In two weeks, we can take care of the situation, but the political will is not there,” Mr Lawal lamented. “We know who they (bandits) are. We know where they live. It’s just that there is no political will.”

Bandits have continued to kill and kidnap scores of hapless villagers in the North, including Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger.

In Katsina, close to a hundred villagers have been killed by bandits in different attacks on communities since May 27.