There has been no love lost between Bello Matawalle, former Governor of Zamfara state, who is presently the Minister of State for Defence in the administration of President Bola Tinubu, and the man who took over from him, Dauda Lawal.

To those who may not know the nitty-gritty of their tiff, which many may attribute to their different political orientations as they both belong to two different political parties – Matawalle is a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), while Lawal is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and they both got elected on the platforms of their respective parties – the duo’s deep-seated hate for each other is not a hidden thing. They are determined to wreck each other politically in order to gain total control of the state.

Although they could be said to be of the same generation age-wise, the present Governor is older than his predecessor with a clear four-year difference. However, enmity between the duo is rubbing off negatively on the young state.

In Nigeria, where politics is local, both politicians are pointing accusing fingers at each other as the big masquerade behind bandits and terrorists who are having a field day in Zamfara State. Just few days ago, Lawal announced that he has evidence that linked his predecessor to bandits’ activities in the state and that those sensitive information have been passed to President Tinubu as well as the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. He promised to make his findings public soon. He alleged that Matawalle is in bed with many of the bandits operating in the state as their sponsor, and that he even lodged some of them inside the government house in Gusau when he was the Chief Executive of the state.

Matawalle has also alleged that Lawal was the ring leader coordinating activities for bandits in the state and dared him to swear with the Qur’an if he is not one of the leaders of bandits in the state. He defended himself by saying that he accommodated some of the bandits in the government house when he was the Governor in good faith so that the bandits would lay down their arms in order to restore peace and stability to the state.

With such weighty allegations flying around, it is now a clear case of ‘no smoke without fire’, an indication that many of our leaders are sponsoring and benefitting from banditry in their states. We still have a long way to go in our quest to defeat banditry and terrorism that has held on to the soul of the country for the last 15 years.

It was former military Head of State, Sani Abacha, who once stated that if insurgency lasted for more than 24 hours, senior government officials are involved. Nigeria’s war against banditry and insurgency has lasted for more than a decade and we do not need any soothsayer to tell us that our leaders are involved.

The last time I was in Gusau in 2017, there was relative peace but indigenes watched their backs and hardly ventured out of their homes after the evening prayers. Even as at that time, there was nothing much one could point at as a landmark achievement for a state that was created on October 1, 1996, and shares boundaries with Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger states and Niger Republic.

Since its creation, Zamfara State has been governed by one military administrator and four Governors, with Lawal being the fifth. Jubril Yakubu, who was appointed military administrator when the state was created, handed over the reins of government to Sani Yarima, who was in charge for eight years. His landmark ‘achievement’ was the introduction of Sharia law in the state. According to him, that was what his people wanted. Education, good health care service, motorable roads and infrastructural development were not on the priority list of those in Zamfara. Expectedly, Sharia law in a multi-religious nation like Nigeria soon became a minus for Yerima.

He left the government house in Gusau for the National Assembly in Abuja, following his election as a Senator representing Zamfara West. With the Senate more like a retirement home, Yerima found comfort in the bosom of a 14-year-old Egyptian girl who became his wife.

But the Sharia law he introduced in Zamfara state soon divided the country along religious lines, as many Christians kicked against it. That did not stop many Northern States from introducing Sharia law in their states.

The then President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian, who did not know how to handle the matter rightly termed it ‘political shariah’, but allowed the northern states to have their way.

A complete reform of the education sector in the North, tailored to their peculiar needs that would incorporate Qur’anic education should be on the to-do list of their leaders in order to quickly tackle the out-of-school menace which we are told affects more than 10 million youths. If we continue to dilly-dally with education in the North, we are simply playing ludo with the future of Nigerian youths in particular, and the nation in general.

With a huge land size of 39, 761 square kilometers and a population of 5.8 million inhabitants going by 2022 estimates, the state began attracting mainly the undesirables due to its thick forest and the presence of gold and other solid minerals such as Copper, Iron ore, Tantalite and Manganese in its bowel. But the gold field in Zamfara was the main attraction for many illegal miners who swarmed on the state like bees. While they employ the locals, paying them peanuts to dig out the raw gold, the field’s proximity to Niger Republic ensures that illegal arms and ammunitions are not in short supply. Again, the thick forest provided ready-made home for many undesirables. That was what laid the foundation for banditry and terrorism that the state has been battling till date.

Soon enough, war lords emerge to provide security cover for the illegal miners. But after learning the ropes, many of the war lords chased away the foreign miners and took over their field. However, they soon discovered an easier way to make money – through kidnapping and banditry, than digging for gold. Why wait and agonize in search of gold when you can easily kidnap people and demand ransom?

Now, Zamfara State is essentially a crime scene with a quarter of its territory effectively in the hands of bandits and terrorists. Farming, which was the main occupation of most people in the state has been negatively impacted as farmers can no longer tend to their farms in peace without the fear of being kidnapped or killed. In some local communities, they now pay protection fees to bandits and share proceeds of their farm with terrorists during harvest.

Yet, a former Governor and the present Chief Executive of the state are engaged in a show of shame, accusing one another of being involved in banditry.

In spite of the sordid tales coming from the duo, Tinubu sits comfortably inside his Aso Rock Villa, believing that nothing is amiss. Now that Lawal has revealed that he has provided evidence linking the former Governor to bandits, hopefully, Tinubu and the National Security Adviser will act on it. However, Nigerians have lost so much hope in their leaders that most suspect that the matter will most likely be swept under the rug. Will Lawal be ready to swear with the Holy Qur’an that he is not a bandit kingpin in the state?

A human rights activist in the state, Abubakar Dahiru, has filed a suit at a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to compel the Federal Government to investigate the alleged link between Matawalle and sponsorship of banditry in the state.

Cited as 1st to 3rd defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1434/2024, which was brought before the court by a Zamfara state-based human rights activist, Abubakar Dahiru, are; President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, as well as the Inspector General of Police.

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Specifically, the plaintiff, through his counsel, Mr. Ojonimi Apeh, is praying the court to declare that “the 1st Defendant (Tinubu) herein must give directions to the 3rd Defendant (IGP) to investigate the activities of bandits and kidnappers in Zamfara state and in particular the allegations surrounding the Minister of State for Defence, Hon. Bello Matawalle, about banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara state to secure and/or restore public safety in Zamfara state.”

Jolted by the Court case, the Defence headquarters last week, issued a statement to the effect that both Matawalle and Lawal are being investigated and that those behind banditry would be brought to book. I wish them luck.

In all the roforofo fight between the duo, the peace and progress of the state may remain a mirage as Lawal would now be pre-occupied with the task of bringing Matawalle down rather than steering the affairs of state. Already, several groups in the region are calling on President Tinubu to drop Matawalle from his cabinet. Lawal on the other hand, enjoys immunity as a sitting Governor and it may be difficult to get him out of office. While the two gladiators fight it out, the peace and progress of the state suffer.

Our security agents should be commended as they are doing their best in tackling crime and criminality in several parts of the country up north but they have to be more decisive in rooting out the terrorists out of our land.

Even with victory on the battle field, we may still not win the war if we continue to pay scant attention to education and poverty eradication that is ravaging the North. For as long as many see education as unimportant and harmful in their lives (Boko Haram, which literarily means ‘Books are forbidden’), we will still have a long way to go in changing the orientation of many of our northern compatriots.

A complete reform of the education sector in the North, tailored to their peculiar needs that would incorporate Qur’anic education should be on the to-do list of their leaders in order to quickly tackle the out-of-school menace which we are told affects more than 10 million youths. If we continue to dilly-dally with education in the North, we are simply playing ludo with the future of Nigerian youths in particular, and the nation in general.

This is because those untrained youths would continue to be ready tools in the hands of leaders who, due to their selfish interests, turn them into political thugs, bandits and terrorists in their own land.

See you next week.

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Tinubu gave this assurance on Sunday when he paid a condolence visit to Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State over the recent assassination of his Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr. Rabe Nasir.

According to him, the country is larger and greater than those criminals, therefore, the federal government should adopt all the necessary measures to eliminate them.

“It is also a very trying period for Katsina State, as it is going through a lot of security challenges. Please, whatever happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

“Let us be vigilant to help our country, let us preach peace and a change of mind to those who are determined to bring terrorism, kidnapping and evil doings to our midst.

“I urge the federal government, under the able leadership of President Muhammad Buhari as the Commander Chief of the Armed Forces, to use all necessary means to eliminate these people.

“We share and we will continue to pray with the Katsina government and also the people of the state to conquer the evil of kidnapping and the killing of innocent people,“ Tinubu.

In his response, Masari noted that the current security challenges in the state started with cattle rustling, which he described as “community banditry“.

He said the bandits lived within the community and were not invading from the forest.

He, however, said that with time the forest became a place where the criminals, such as kidnappers, hid their victims until ransom was paid for them.

“What we have discovered is that the majority of what is going on now is community banditry. So, we have community issues which we have to resolve before going forward,” the governor said.

Source: NAN

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According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari in a directive to the Defence Headquarters a few days ago, asked the military to respond robustly to the cases of killings and kidnappings in the state.

He said it should also give effect to the strategic objectives through the use of force.

In his message to the government and people of Niger State, Shehu stated that the president said, “I would like to express sincere sympathies to the government and people of the state following recent security incidents.”

The president, he said, reiterated that security was a responsibility of every member of the community and only through solidarity and cooperation with law enforcement agencies could the problems be brought to an end.

“The Federal Government is willing to strengthen support and cooperation with all the states. I believe that with the full cooperation of the citizens, we will surely overcome this problem,” said the President.

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Dr Umar Gwandu, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

The AGF had on Tuesday announced during his live appearance on the NTA programme “Good Morning Nigeria”, that the Gazette will be out soon.

Source: NAN

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Tade who was reacting to the call by Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, on residents of the state to acquire arms and defend themselves against bandits, said  acquiring weapons by citizens in the name of self-defense would increase bandit cells and deepen insecurity.

He noted that besides the issues of border porosity, states in the North West were leading in terms of unemployment and poor people in Nigeria, insisting that the two variables were triggers of criminality and social problems which the region is facing.

The don maintained that the states in the North West should be realistic and present common front to battle bandits which they reared irresponsibly.

According to him, “The North West states are facing almost same problem of banditry and should work together, formulate common policies and collectively use their humongous security votes to protect their residents and not only their families.”

Tade noted further that Nigeria was a member state which signed into the responsibility to protect but it was showing incapacity and unwillingness to tame the monster of insecurity thereby exposing security forces to danger and sending civilians to early graves.

The security expert and communication specialist admonished governors in the North West region to fight unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy which he described as the tripod upon which banditry had been nurtured to their monstrous nature.

“The statistics from the region from the National Bureau of Statistics in the last quarter of 2020 showed that Katsina alone has 25.5 per cent unemployment rate with about 438,808 people unemployed; Jigawa has 565,978 (38.69%), Kaduna has 1,111,091 (44.35%), Kano has 717,086 (25.5%) while Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara have 213, 570 (17.25%), 162,349 (14.48%), 202, 568 (12.9%) respectively. The statistics on poverty rate from the region is a sign of danger and failure of effective leadership. Who will you give weapons in a state like Zamfara with poverty rate of 73.98 per cent or in Sokoto with 87.73 per cent poor people? The least in the region has 43.48 per cent of her population as poor.

“So, who will be the civilian that is not already vulnerable to bad governance and will be given arms and not also use it as an opportunity to extort? Leaders from the zone should be objective to themselves and address what they have contributed to creating the monster of banditry? How many of them are close to the bandits? Governance is not about enjoying the perks of office and shifting responsibilities to the vulnerable. Rise up and address the root cause of banditry. Weapon proliferation is already a problem and we should not add to it.”

He admonished the leadership in the region to put politics aside and join the call for state police, fight poverty, unemployment and rise up to defend their people.

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Chairman, of the forum, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State said this on Thursday in Abuja when he led a delegation of the forum on a condolence visit to Senator Aliyu Wamakko (APC-Sokoto).

Some indigenes of Sokoto Sate were recently killed by bandits some of whom were locked up in a bus and set ablaze.

He said: “We were in Sokoto State earlier to sympathise with the government and immediate families of those who were brutally killed in the name of banditry.

“The issue of banditry in north western part of the country is not beyond us. We know the problem and the solutions are something that we as a people are capable of doing.

“This is provided that all of us take responsibility and stop the blame game.

“Banditry, especially our own in the north western part of the country can easily be dealt with if all hands are put on deck.

“This is because it has no religious coloration, no ethnic coloration, it is not ideological. It is simply pure criminality,” he said.

While acknowledging that the Nigerian Police had limitations in fighting insecurity, Masari said that security agencies required technologies to effectively tackle the challenge.

“We need to know where the bandits are recruited, at what price are they recruited, all these are issues that are very well known to us.

“These are issues we should have the capacity to do provided there is determination, there is leadership and there is political will.

“We have no alternative; we have to conquer our environment in order to survive in it.

“We in the north western governor’s forum together with the governors of Plateau, Nasarawa and Niger are working with the Federal Government to come up with strategies and solutions.

Similarly, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State said that blaming each other would not bring any solution to the security challenge.

“We have seen a lot in this country. The issue started with cattle rustling that looked so simple and so indigenous. We did not even investigate it to find out what was its root course.

“Cattle rustling has graduated to kidnapping, kidnapping graduated to banditry while we are fighting Boko Haram on the other side.

“We have to break that cycle. Our first challenge is how we reclaim our forests without being affected by the bandits,” he said.

Proffering solution, Ganduje said that data must be sourced while also calling for the use of technology in the fight against insecurity.

“There must be planning, there must be data, there must be commitment, there must be timeline for whatever we are going to do. How far have we involved communities?

“We must go back to the drawing board. The communities need to be involved, there must be community policing,” he said.

While appreciating the delegation for the visit, Wamakko, also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defense, said the approach to the fight against banditry should be modified.

“The peaceful approach we are giving to security matters will not solve the problem. The fight cannot be done by merely repelling alone, we have to be on the offensive.

“We have spoken enough. What we are to do is to start implementing. No amount of money can solve this problem until there is determination to take the right and proper action.

“The Federal Government and National Assembly have made enough provision in the 2021 Budget to security agencies to overcome these challenges nationwide.

“It is not about the amount of money, it is the approach, it is the commitment, it is the determination that can take us to the promise land,” he said.

Source: NAN

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Ahmed Matane, Secretary to the State Government, SSG, disclosed this in a statement issued in Minna on Saturday.

The SSG said the ban covered motorcycles such as:  Bajaj Boxer, Qiujeng, Honda ACE, Jingchen, with engine capacity of 185 Cubic Centimetres (CC) and above.

He explained that the measure was aimed at stopping the  activities of bandits, kidnappers and other criminals unleashing terror on innocent citizens of the state.

The SSG said the government had condemned in strong terms, the degree of carnage caused by bandits and kidnappers in the state, restating the commitment of the  Bello-led administration to confronting the threat.

“Government is aware of the inconveniences the measure would cause the people, but the decision was taken in the overall interest of the state.

“We appeal to dealers of motorcycles across the state to cooperate with the directive,” he said.

Matane also appealed to residents to cooperate with security agencies on the security measures being put in place.

The SSG said government had ordered security agencies in the state to ensure effective enforcement of the directive.

Matane reaffirmed that activities of commercial motorcycle riders, popularly known as Okada or Kabu-Kabu and operation of illegal motor parks remained banned in Minna metropolis and environs.

The state government had earlier restricted the movement of all motorcycles from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., an order which is still being enforced.

Source: NAN

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This followed the adoption of a motion by Yusuf Kanoma (APC- Maru North) at Tuesday’s plenary in Gusau.

Speaking on the motion, Kanoma urged the house to suspend the two members over allegations that they were collaborating with bandits in the state.

“One of them is suspected to have supplied information to bandits leading to the death of one of our lawmakers, Muhammad Ahmad, representing Shinkafi Constituency, who was killed on his way to Kano few months ago.

“The other was seen rejoicing after the kidnap of our Speaker’s father, who died in bandits captivity,” he said.

Contributing, the Majority Leader, Alhaji Faruku Dosara, said that the allegations must be treated seriously and called for a thorough investigation by the House.

Dosara suggested that the House should mandate one of its committees to investigate the matter and report back.

Speaker Nasiru Magarya, thereafter, directed the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate the matter and report to the house in three months.

During the plenary all the 24 lawmakers, the Clerk and Chairman of the Assembly Service Commission were made to swear to an oath that they had no connection with banditry in the state.

In another development, the House on Tuesday screened and confirmed Sole Administrators for the 14 local government councils of the state as requested by the state government.

Some of those confirmed included Aminu Yarkofoji (Bakura); Kabiru Maigoro (Bini Magaji); Basiru Mu’awiyya (Bukkuyum); Muhammad Maiturare (Bungudu); Abubakar Dakitakwas (Gummi) and Sanusi Sarki (Gusau).

Source: NAN

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A Professor of Criminology and Sociology of Law, Moses Udo Ikoh, made the identification.

Ikoh, who lectures in the Department of Sociology and doubles as the Director of Academic Planning, Federal University, Lafia,  Nasarawa State, while delivering the second inaugural lecture of the university, disclosed that Nigeria currently had 1,400 illegal borders.

He maintained that that made it possible for human traffickers, bandits, terrorists, drug peddlers and others who engaged in organised crimes to sneak into the country and carry out their criminal activities without hindrances.

Ikoh, in the lecture titled, “Sociology of the criminal, Arc of tension, and harvest of insecurity in Nigeria: Patterns, linkages and Implications for National security”,  insisted that Nigeria was not winning the war against terror because of leakage of intelligence information, insiders collaboration and existence of moles.

He said the incident at Ibi in Taraba State, on August 7,  2019, where soldiers had to kill policemen on lawful duties to set a kidnap kingpin free, suggested lack of cooperation among security agencies in the country.

According to him, “There is a growing recognition in the world that insecurity as experienced in Nigeria via “invasion and succession” and terrorism is a transnational problem; and that immigrants can also cause serious security problems, in their country of destination.

“For this reason, countries have had to place serious checks at their borders. In Nigeria, a whole Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the Department of Custom Services is in charge of policing the borders.

“Nigeria has conservatively 1,400 illegal borders, which stretch mostly across the arc of tension. These porous borders have made infiltration of organized criminals possible; as well as trafficking in arms and ammunition, trafficking in persons, and drugs. It is also possible for organised criminal gangs with or without base in the country to sneak into the country and carry out their operation and return to their bases in Niger, Chad, and Mali, unhindered.”

He stated that there is a need to take a second look at the joint task force with neighbouring countries and eradicate all forms of corruption among members of the armed forces.

He said: “There is need to take a second look at the operation of the Joint Task Force that Nigeria has with Chad, Niger and Cameroun for the fight against terrorism. It appears the security forces may be willing to engage in the theatre of war against the terrorists, but lack the necessary weapons and technology that can give them operational advantage. There is the need for procurement of sophisticated weapons, joint combat training, and battle design to eliminate the insurgents who are increasing in number every year.

“Eradication of corruption among members of the armed forces is needed. When President Goodluck Jonathan lamented that Boko Haram had infiltrated the security agencies and even his government, it was not investigated further.

“But as it is, Nigeria is not winning the war against terror as effectively as it should have because of leakage of intelligence information, insiders collaboration, and existence of moles. The recent incident at Ibi in Taraba State (7th Aug. 2019), where soldiers had to kill policemen on lawful duties to set a kidnap kingpin free, suggests lack of cooperation among the security organs.

“Climate change is worsening the environmental conditions in the Sahel region with intense desertification. The Lake Chad Basin is shrinking, and is adversely affecting the lives of millions of the people that depend on it. The truth is that arable and grazing lands are shrinking. The consequence is increasing the rate of violent crimes.

“Libya should be made to work. The impact of lack of government in Libya is exerting significant negative effect on Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and even Ivory Coast. The African Union (AU) may not have to interfere in the affairs of members States, but it is not out of place to try to reconcile faction leaders in that country to form one strong united government.

“The failure of government in Libya is enhancing the strength of terrorist groups in the Sahel region, and Nigeria is being affected. The North East Development Commission (NEDC) should not only be involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation of people in the war torn communities and local government areas.

“The National Orientation Agency (NOA) should be strengthened to sensitize the public on the inculcation of national values. When the primary groups and social institutions are recognized as centres of values allocation and defence, national values can well be internalised and propagated and practised.”

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The closed door emergency meeting, called at the instance of the governor, was attended by stakeholders who looked at the security challenges facing the North-West state.

Those who attended the meeting which held at the Government House, Gusau, included traditional rulers from 17 emirate councils, heads of security agencies operating in the state and members of the Council of Ulama.

Speaking to newsmen at the end of the meeting, the Director-General, Media, Public Enlightenment and Communication to Governor Matawalle, Malam Yusuf Idris, said that a communique would be issued after it is ratified.

Source: NAN

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