THUNDER BLOWERS EDITORIAL
“State governments must review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles. Such a policy has the potential to backfire with disastrous consequences. State and Local Governments must also play their part by being proactive in improving security in and around schools. (President Muhammadu Buhari via his personal verified Twitter handle)”
Again
“The government shall continue to deal with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals who constitute a threat to innocent citizens across the country”.
“Criminals are criminals and should be dealt with accordingly, without resorting to ethnic profiling. I have already tasked the new Service Chiefs to devise new strategies that will end this ugly situation where the lives of our people continue to be threatened by hoodlums and criminals. President Muhammadu Buhari during a stakeholders meeting of Northern Governors and Northern Traditional Rulers held in Kaduna on Thursday”.
For us the statements by President Buhari has brought an end to a series of agitations by the public for Zamfara State Governor to stand down his peace deal and face the bandits squarely. There should be no second way about it.
Earlier than now, there have been unending agitations by concerned stakeholders and security experts on the need for the Governor to be realistic and allow full military operations to be conducted in securing Zamfara State.
No doubt his mind and intention at the beginning of the “peace deal” may be good, but to be honest with Governor Matawalle, some interests have hijacked his good will about the peace deal and the resultant effects of the unending attacks on the innocent civilians and in Zamfara since the middle of 2019 is a clear scientific evidence to prove it.
One does not need scientific hypothesis to arrive at a conclusion that the bandits are taking advantage of the open weaknesses of the government to turn this badit activity into a money making venture hence they have at every point in time acted differently from the negotiation they have entered with the government by embarking on massive killings and abduction for ransom.
In 2020 alone one cannot count the number of attacks they have launched against dozens of communities in Zamfara especially in Anka, Bungudu, Maru, Tsafe, Zurmi, Maradun, Shinkafi, Gusau and Kaura Namoda
For instance in November 2020 they have invaded worshipers during prayer in a mosque in Maru, killed five worshipers and abducted 40 others.
In November also, same bandits abducted 12 senior police officers who were on special duty to Zamfara and demanded for ransom.
In 2020, they have attacked Gidan Goga village several times and also killed and abducted scores of people in Maradun the Governor’s hometown.
Around January 2021 they attacked Janbako and many villages in Maradun killed and abducted many people.
Same bandits who have been allegedly negotiating with Zamfara state government have been involved in the abduction and kidnapping of 26 women along Zamfara border with Katsina which the Governor later intervened and secured their release.
They are also allegedly involved in the abduction of over 300 students from GSSS kankara in 2020 a scenario that attracted the attention of the international community.
You can go on and on to mention several criminal activities allegedly perpetrated by these bandits who pretend they are in the peace deal with the state government and do things differently.
On the argument whether the government of Zamfara is inducing the bandits with money and vehicles as part of the negotiation one must be able to draw a line of interpretation in the statement of the president as captured in the opening of this editorial above but for sure President Muhammadu Buhari must be sending a message across some Governors who took to negotiation with bandits as an option.
Now the President has spoken and
I think Zamfara State government needs to actively listen to the message of President Muhammad Buhari that “negotiation with the bandits is not the way to go” and that message must be respected.
I think Zamfara State government needs to actively listen to the message of President Muhammad Buhari that “negotiation with the bandits is not the way to go” and that message must be respected.
As for those who argued that it is because the federal government has failed in its own constitutional duty of securing lives and properties of the people we equally share that sentiment but let time speak now and if after collapsing the peace deal the killings and kidnapping continues with no serious effort to avert it, then we can hold President Muhammad Buhari and his federal government responsible.
Governor Bello Matawalle needs to as a matter of urgency make the declaration of putting an end to the peace initiative and come back to redesign his security architecture by engaging active and honest people to manage his state security outfits for him.
Anything short of the declaration by the Governor especially during this trying moment will amount to continued suspicion of the Governor’s sincerity of ending this banditry
The Governor also needs to effect an urgent reform in his state security structure by engaging capable hands who can do the job better.
I may be forced to share the sentiment of Ahmad Abubakar Maradun, former Commissioner in Zamfara State who asserted that, “the CP and other heads of security agencies in Zamfara may be more comfortable working with a state security head who is their senior in the job because he may have many things to offer than those in the position of things now”.
There is no doubt Zamfara state is blessed with highly experienced security experts that served the country better and in different capacities and to the best of my knowledge they will be very much willing to accept the responsibilities if they are able to ascertain the sincerity of the Governor.
Zamfara has produced a retired Inspector General of Police, a police DIG and AIG many retired Police Commissioners added with many senior military officers who held high level positions, and they are now retired and the experiences of these people should be useful to the government of Zamfara state in managing this kind of problem we have at hand.
Again the government needs to refocuss its attention to the use of resource persons from the academia because they have a lot to contribute in the eradication of this social crises.
The recent surrender of arms and ammunition by those who claimed to have repented is sincerely doubtful considering the facts that their surrender has not aided in minimizing the menace and carnages to some reasonable strategies.
“If the killings have reduced what about the abduction, it is absolutely in the rise and this is to show that it is just a change of strategy by the bandits” Prof. T.M Baba Professor of Criminology said in one of our interviews last year (2020).
Governor Matawalle and his aides should accept the reality that the “peace initiative” has failed and this has been the testimony of even those within the government just that they cannot say it in the open.
There is nothing wrong in changing strategy in the middle of the war if the one being applied is leading to failure.
The Governor should collapse the peace deal as part of respecting the Presidential order and also support the troops to declare a total war against the bandits.
If at the end of the whole thing they personally opted for peace and reconciliation, government can look at the option.
We would like to reiterate the position of my learned Professor of Criminology, Prof. T.M Baba that “you can’t negotiate with criminals or those who rise against the state without them accepting the match to defeat”.
One needs to take a typical example of Nigerian Civil War in the late sixties and early seventies, before Gowon accepted to reconcile with Ojukwu and Biafran advocates he had to prove to them that the Nigerian government was actually in charge, and they all had to accept that simple reality.
It is our belief that the recent abduction of female students in Jangebe and public reaction against some governmen
t officials and journalists on Friday should serve as a clear indicator of why Matawalle led government should crash this peace deal.
t officials and journalists on Friday should serve as a clear indicator of why Matawalle led government should crash this peace deal.
We know what we saw at Jangebe and listened clearly to the public reaction, it has some greater signs that people of Zamfara have been pushed to the wall and I am sure the days ahead would be much harder for the government if it decides to go the old way.
“It is not too late to rethink but it is better we think earlier and act faster.
