Bandits Give 8 Conditions To Stop Killings In Zamfara

More revelations have emerged about Sheikh Ahmad Gumi’s tour of Zamfara forests in February this year following the gruesome murder of 93 people in Kadawa village of Zurmi Local Government Area of the state by bandits.

Bandits had invaded the village in the middle of the night and slaughtered 93 people while several others escaped with injuries, according to a report by The Punch on June 12.

There is now apprehension in the state for the safety of residents and travelers as it is believed the Fulani bandits have renewed their criminalities due to alleged failure of Governor Bello Matawalle to honour the agreement he had with them.

An agreement was allegedly brokered between the bandits and the state government by Sheikh Gumi when he visited the bandits in February.

According to the Desert Herald, whose publisher, Malam Tukur Mamu, was on Sheikh Gumi’s entourage during the negotiations,  the bandits made eight requests  from the Zamfara State government.

8 Conditions for peace

The requests are : a) That government will arrange a rehabilitation program for them; convert them into forest rangers with monthly stipends while they will take full responsibility of guiding the entire forests.  The agreement includes planting of trees to control desert encroachment and deforestation;

b) That to ease their work, Governor Matawalle will provide operational vehicles, motor cycles for them with allowances for fuel. Under that arrangement it was agreed that they will be provided with uniforms as means of identification and control;

 c) That Fulanis should not be attacked by local vigilantes or any other person whenever they come to town for their legitimate businesses;

 d) That government will provide teachers for them and their families to be teaching them especially about their religion (Islam) and that of western education;

 e) That if they show total commitment, government will extend the program further by building hospitals, schools for them;

 f) That provision of potable water for their consumption and that of the few animals should be prioritized immediately by the government;

 g) Entrepreneurship training, financial support for farming, cattle raring etc. for them and

 h) That if they show total commitment within one year and without violating the peace treaty, Governor Matawalle will liaise with the federal government to see the possibility of employing some of them into the Nigeria Civil Defense and to create scholarship programmes for them to pursue education.

Why we negotiated with bandits – Governor

According to the paper, Governor Matawalle agreed to all the conditions.

The governor had been criticized for negotiating with bandits in the past, but gave reasons for his action.

He revealed that there were not less than 30,000 bandits in 100 camps in the state and five other neighbouring states and negotiation was the only feasible option for peace..

The neighbouring states are Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger and Katsina, according to the governor.

He said further that between 2011 and 2019, bandits had wasted 2,619 people, kidnapped 1,190 others and collected over N970 million ransom from victims’ families during the same period.