ARMED BANDITRY/KIDNAPPINGS: AN OPEN LETTER TO NORTH WEST GOVERNORS

ARMED BANDITRY/KIDNAPPINGS: AN OPEN LETTER TO NORTH WEST GOVERNORS

                          By:

               Nurudeen Dauda

              12th October, 2023.

nurudeendauda24@gmail.com

nurudeendauda@yahoo.com

nurudeendauda.blogspot.com

Good day Your Excellencies, the executive governors of north west geo-political zone and Niger state. Please! Accept my best wishes. I hope this letter will get to you through the power of both conventional and social media.

To start with, It is important we "understand" that Boko Haram terrorists were not only "weakened" by civilian JTF. What the civilian JTF did in Maiduguri of Borno state when the going gets tough was "identifying" and "chasing"out the sect members out of Maiduguri metropolis. The sect was initially "celebrated", "condoned" and "shielded" by some people around them.

Boko Haram began its attacks on "security" personnel and their "formations". At the initial stages of its attacks some people in Maiduguri were allegedly celebrating the sect attacks against the security personnel and their formations. It was further alleged that most of the "attackers" were well known and lived among the people in Maiduguri until the sect bagan to attack all and sundry. 

However, it is apt to state that we are now talking about a "sophisticated" bandits with a capacity to bring down an aircraft down. This does not in anyway downplay the role of civilian JTF in Borno state and or the importance of the use of local knowledge in tackling insecurity situation everywhere.

The early fight with Boko Haram had it that the moment Nigerian soldiers pursued them to the extreme end of Borno state they would either enter "Chad republic" or "Cameroon republic" and or "Niger republic" which all share borders with Borno state. From those foreign countries they often came back stronger to attack again and again until President Buhari came. Within the first week of his swearing-in he visited Niger republic, Chad republic and later Cameroon republic . Benin republic later joint the collective security effort. The Multi-national Joint Taskforce was strengthened. That approach largely weakened the sect capacity. In my suggestion, this approach of collective push/effort should be revisited by north west geo-political zone states as well as Niger state.

Armed banditry crisis has it that the moment the bandits were pursued from Birnin Gwari axis they moved to Zamfara state and vice versa, and if they were pursued from Kastina state they moved to Zamfara state and vice versa. If they were pursued from Sokoto state they moved to Niger state or Kebbi state and vice versa.

All of you the "seven" state governors of the north- west geo-political zone of Nigeria and by extension Niger state which are the epicentre of the crisis must be on the "same page" and work collectively not to continue to be on "different pages" that you seem to be presently. You must take a "uniform" stand on how to approach the crisis otherwise it will be one-step forward and two- steps backward.

From federal to state governments we must all be on the same page for us to get a lasting solution. There are allegations that some state governments are negotiating with bandits on their own without federal government's knowledge or consent and vice versa. In the recent past, we witnessed how some governors advocated for negotiation with bandits while others suggested for "carpet bombings" of all our forests to get rid of all bandits in the forests. 

In my thought, the best way to address the issue is to first of all thoroughly understand the "genesis" of the crisis. In my understanding, it is a "local crisis" that requires collective action not individual state action. Perennial farmer-herder clashes and cattle-rustling led to the aggravation of armed banditry and Kidnappings in our society. Although the history of farmer -herder clashes is from time immemorial as captured in our "religious scriptures"we have not as a people and as a country properly "managed" the issue with all the seriousness its deserves. We are into conflict "settlement"as against "resolution.

From independence to date both human and cattle population have increased significantly, but the size of our "land resources" remains or even reduced due to "desertification" and or "climate change". For all these years we have not "modernized" cattle business as in other countries instead we bastardized grazing reserves and cattle routes. 

As a country few years ago when cattle-rustling was at its peak we did not manage its properly. Our general attitude of “playing the ostrich” to sensitive issues aggravated the crisis. We turned a “blind eye” and “deaf ear”on the issue of cattle -rustling from the outset. We often treat life threatening issues with kid gloves. It was largely alleged that many herders who lost their cattle to cattle-rustling "resort" to Kidnappings for "ransom" which is more lucrative. 

However, one must quickly add that, cattle -rustling is not the only factor responsible for kidnappings in our society. Despite spending billions on nomadic education stark illiteracy in both religious and western education remains among our fulani herdsmen.

In my thought, our major fault are: one, we have failed to accept that the crisis is of land resources not "ethnic" or "religious" one , two, we have failed as a country to secure our borderlines against at least the foreign nomads, three, we have not been managing the nomads' deliberate straying into farms, four, we have not been managing the alleged extortion of nomads by their Ardos who are supposed to protect them, five, we have not addressed the allegations of connivance of local chiefs, Police and magistrates against the herders, six, we have not been managing jungle justice in terms of maiming and killings of nomads and their cattle.

Seven, we have bastardized cattle "routes" and "grazing reserves", eight, we have failed to modernize cattle business and nine, we stopped "Jangali tax" which would have helped us know the population of our local nomads, their cattle and the presence of foreign nomads .There are still a large number of our decent herdsmen who are neither kidnappers nor bandits which be use to addressed the issue. Our porous borders and large swathes of ungoverned spaces have worsened the crisis. It is high time we reintroduce Jangali tax will enable us identify our herdsmen. 

We must approach the crisis from firstly, the political front. On this front, cattle rearing which is part of agricultural activities must be supported as a business not as an ethnic thing. The right attention must be given to cattle business. There must be genuine effort at its modernization. 

Secondly, the legal front, there must be justice in handling famers-herders clashes. We must work hard towards addressing the allegations of corruption among our judges, village heads and extortion by the local police against both herders and farmers . 

Thirdly, the Socio-economic front. The issues of illiteracy, poverty, drug abuse and unemployment have contributed immensely to criminal activities in our society . For us to get it right, the government should and or must pursue deliberate policies towards combating same .

Fourthly, we must properly secure our "forests" which are generally unsecured. Our vast unmanned forests in the country serve as hideouts to criminals. Something serious must be done on its. Our porous borders must be properly secured. Let's deploy technology in securing our borders .The NDLEA must be strengthened to do more on the fight against drugs importation which is the energizer to all sorts of crimes.

Fifthly, Small and light weapons are too many in our midst which must be mopped up. We must frustrate its supply to non -state actors . We must properly "kits"our security agencies. Their welfare must be taken very seriously. We must invest more on Intelligence gathering/sharing.It is high time we deploy technology driven approach to security challenges .

May God bless Nigeria