By Ayo Kehinde
Bandits who have turned the Nigerian North west states of Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger in the North Central into killing fields through kidnapping for ransom are full- blooded Nigerians, a journalist, Shuabi Mungabe has alleged.
Malam Mungabe made the allegation in an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday. A popular broadcast journalist in Hausa and public affairs commentator, Mungabe told his interviewer, Mr Charles Aniagolu that he was able to draw that conclusion after his recent interaction with leaders of many bandit groups in the forest following an invitation they granted him after listening to one of his Hausa programmes.
He blamed the root cause of banditry on oppression of herders by some unnamed emirs,traditional rulers and security personnel in the affected states. According to him, banditry took root in the affected states after , “the traditional leaders and security personnel oppressed the local, ignorant herders leading to the point they lost of herds of cattle. Nomadic, they have always spend their lives in the bush. Having lost their main source of income and trade, they took to criminality and cattle rustling. The police men that went to arrest them were armed with AK-47, which the rustlers were powerless against. So they began rustling and selling cattle to acquire AK-47, which they felt would give them power of protection in their criminality. Then politicians recruited many as thugs during election, which further embolden them.”
He disclosed that many of them are now used to the life of luxury, similar to what their politician hirers live. “In some of the camps I went to, I saw leaders with the latest, 2020 edition of Hilux Jeep with an array of escort, cooks, food barns, armory, harem. The bandits are not foreigners. They are Nigerians. They invite outside support when they are faced with serious battle beyond their control. They have carved out territories they are administering. They live like kings. They told me that government knows where they live.”
From his estimation, the bandits in North west Nigeria alone should be up to 12,000 members.
When asked to volunteer information on how to end banditry, he stated that the bandits have two edges over Nigeria security agencies: “They understand the terrain better, they have informants among the populace” and alleged that “there are moles among the security personnel.”
Muganbe submitted that the bandits will continue to reign with impunity in the affected comunities because, “the state and federal governments are uncoordinated in their approach to tackle the menace. Governor Nasril el-Rufai in Kaduna says he will not pay ransom, Zamfara is ready to negotiate, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger are not ready, so they cannot decide and fight together. Meanwhile, the bandits are going about with impunity. They enter a village and promise not to harm the people. So the people let them stay and feed on their foodstuff for weeks and afterwards the bandits get the men to gather all the animals for them when they want to retire to the forest. Any form of resistance is met with killing. When they think they may be over powered, they invite their brothers from across the border, who come in hundreds on motorcycles, armed.”
He however dismissed the idea that the criminals were beyond the fire power of the police and military. ” Anybody who says that Nigeria does not have the security personnel to fight the bandits is a clown,” he said, noting that a combination of three factors have made the bandits appear unconquerable: The vast forest in the north, the presence of farmers there and others who go into the forest for their activities, acting as human shield.”
