Why banditry persist in Zamfara – Dr Siddique
A lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Dr Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, has linked the incessant banditry in Zamfara and neighbouring states to erosion of time-tested traditions and values that have provided stability to most of the communities.
He also said the crisis can be traced to poverty and corruption among the political class and judicial officers.
Dr Mohammed has been involved in researches on causes and implications of armed banditry in the North-West.
The university don said governments in the affected states had long ago abandoned their responsibilities of safeguarding lives and property, hence the rise in banditry incidents.
Dr Siddique, who is the Director of the Center for Democratic Development Research and Training (CEDDERT), Zaria, said ending the problem cannot be solved by military operations alone.
According to him, if the causes can be addressed, they will form part of important ways of addressing the challenges.
He, however, explained that the areas affected by banditry are vast with many without police presence.
“Intelligence gathering is also poor. People in these areas depend on traditional methods of security, and once these collapses, they become vulnerable, they resort to crude self-help, which in many cases have compounded the problems, as we have seen in many places like Zamfara, Birnin Gwari, among others,” Dr Mohammed said.
He called for the need to regularize the local vigilante groups that must be made to operate in accordance with the laws.
The lecturer pointed out that if impunity, corruption and nonchalant attitudes of some state officials can be addressed, security situation in the areas will improve and rural banditry could be reduced considerably.
Also, he said, if dialogue is sincerely pursued and properly handled, it could yield positive results, one of which could be the separation of groups who have genuine grievances from the hard core criminals.
According to him, there are people who took to the forests because of the collective punishment in vogue in the area explaining that a whole group is attacked because one of them is involved in a crime.
He said a group can be assured of their safety if they agree to hand over their arms and be reintegrated into their communities.
“This approach seems to be working so far in Katsina. Many of those who have been pushed out of their communities into the warm embrace of the criminals because of the degeneration of the conflict would want to be reintegrated into their communities. After all, they are not intruders. They have been part and parcel of those communities,” he said.