While witnessing murderous characters through gruesome banditry to establish the reign of terror, the rule of gun has eventually overwhelmed the rule of law in Zamfara state. Consequently, a new republic of lawlessness is giving us an apocalyptic verdict: Zamfara is on the brink of a precipice!
Over a decade, the brutish bandits of Zamfara have foisted themselves on one of the poorest states of Nigeria, unleashing a destructive war and becoming state enemies, making both the people and state poorer. Wielding their AK-47, they dare the authorities, perpetuating gruesome murders, kidnappings, lootings, extortions, and sexual assaults amongst other forms of violence. As these attacks have rendered many dead, billions of naira property destroyed, massive socioeconomic dislocations, Zamfara is becoming a global reference point for banditry, with many ghost towns and is often labeled as Nigeria’s wild northwest.
Mainly drawn from the vulnerable, the poor and the rural folks, the victims of this human catastrophe also include both men and women, the young and the old. The brazen manner with which the warlords often notify villages prior to attacks, imposition of illegal levies to farmers to gain access to their land suggests that the state is also a great casualty devastated by the impunity of the gunmen.
What erupted as farmers and herdsmen conflicts metamorphosed into bloody banditry, now a lucrative industry as a means of survival for the perpetrators. A theory has it that the effect of climate change, especially the decreasing amount of rainfall over the years, means scarcity of water, placing pressure on land, fuelling intense conflicts between pastoralists and farmers, whose livelihoods and survival are based on access to land, has been the major driving force for the explosion of banditry. The most amazing thing was allowing it to grow strong pillars that are now very cumbersome to dismantle.
While the victims of these evil men will continue to live in trauma-laden with everlastingly psychological and economic deformities, reports show that bandits generated about N13.667 billion between 2015 and 2019. The bandits’ economy is boosted at the detriment of people’s lives. According to the Zamfara State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, 9113 were killed by bandits from 2015 to 2022. The overall implications of banditry in the state have exacerbated difficulties, uncertainties, animosity, escalating hostilities and anxiety among various socioeconomic groups. It is on this note that many analysts vehemently reject the idea of negotiation with the bandits as their grievous sins are unforgivable and beyond truce.
Focusing on Zamfara state is informed by the fact that it is the epicenter of the banditry ravaging the northwest, excluding Kano and Jigawa, and the extent of the damage is more horrifying than in the other states. Perhaps, no one can give a vivid summary of this better than Buhari Moriki, a community development worker, who told the New Humanitarian that, ‘ virtually everyone in Zamfara knows somebody who has been kidnapped.’ Reaching this calamitous stage is a journey to doom, albeit, the terrible trend is the existential reality that has caught up with the people of Zamfara.
Though the theatre of brutalities of these gunmen has substantially destabilised the agricultural sector where many farmers are forced to flee for their lives or pay a fine imposed by the terrorists, their evil activities have also dealt a deadly blow to the education sector. There is an alarming report by the UNICEF(2022) revealing that bandits mercilessly attacked 60 schools, leading to deaths of teachers, students and the closure of 168 out of 1,745 primary schools in the state, while about 33260 children lost the opportunity to continue their education. Appallingly, this culminates in the persistent and drastic fall in school enrollment and the quality of education in the state.
Although there have been several efforts both militarily and diplomatically to curb the bloated surging of the human catastrophe, yet, many factors have facilitated the lingering of this tragedy. For instance, Zamfara has many dense, light forests and reserves covering about 265,375 hc. With a porous border and poor policing, the state is vulnerable to the infectious banditry. Also, Zamfara is mostly surrounded by forests with little presence of government from where bandits launch their assaults on villages, towns, highways.
The Rugu, Kamara, Kunduma and Sububu forests have become major hideouts for bandits. There are other contributory factors such as corruption that has pervaded the security architecture, politicisation of security, collapse of functional institutions, unjingoistic attributes of some village heads and government failure to address the ‘basic needs approach’ to development among others.
Governor Dauda Lawal’s perceived determination to end banditry is a great task defining a noble mission and vision to reach the logical conclusion. His expressive words on the banditry endemic in the state must be translated into real actions and unravel a paradigm shift from the previous failed attempts aimed at bringing banditry to an inevitable end to a more robust approach that can break the jinx of banditry so that Zamfara can reclaim its past glory of peace and tranquility.
When most politicians think of the next election, it is expected that Governor Dauda Lawal should be a governor with a substantial difference by soberly reflecting on the next generation. There must be a new generation of not killers but friends in a progressive partnership. The next generation of Zamfara should be vaccinated against banditry. It only requires Governor Daura Lawal to showcase an indelible political will to fight those who are enemies of the state and their collaborators, freeing the people from the shackles of evils and rediscovering a new Zamfara. Of course, a new Zamfara is possible and Dauda’s unflinching loyalty to the state and his purposeful sincerity to his people are his greatest weapons of fighting the brutal bandits.
Tackling Zamfara’s frightening banditry calls for proactive and realistic strategies. It requires mass mobilisation of both human and financial resources. It should be a holistic approach without fear or favour. Governor Lawal’s recurrent and reassuring statements about his overzealousness to wipe out bandits resonate with authentic desires. However, what remains for him to conquer the enemies is getting things done by not adopting measures that will complicate the prevailing predicament.
His body language is sound and needs to scout out for the support of all relevant stakeholders to bring back peace. This is the biggest asset he will bequeath to posterity.
Abdu Abdullahi
Ringim
Jigawa State
07036207998
