Politicians don’t want end to banditry – Murtala Rufa’i

Alecturer at the Usman Danfodiyo University (UDUS), Sokoto, Dr Murtala Rufa’i, has alleged that some politicians in the country do not want banditry to end soon.

He also said the ongoing military operation in the North West was not the solution to banditry and other security challenges.

Rufa’i spoke as one of the panelists at the 19th Daily Trust Dialogue held in Abuja on Thursday.

According to him, banditry is a rural problem and should be treated as such.

He said: “The issue of rural banditry in the North West, there is no military solution to it. It is fundamentally a rural problem. It has to be addressed from the grassroots, the rural areas.

“These people, we actually now classified as terrorists, are people that are born and brought up in the rural areas and fortunately or unfortunately, none of them has moved. They are where they were born and brought up.

“The problem of banditry is not just about the military operations. One of the major challenges affecting the issue of banditry in rural Zamfara today is the epidemic affecting the cattle.

“The number of cattle dying daily is frightening. It is on the increase. The bandits are what they are because of the cattle economy and today they have no access to urban centres, veterinary services.”

He said the traditional leaders and authorities should be involved in tackling banditry.

“Some of them (bandits) have respect for the traditional leaders. The question is why can’t we make use of these traditional rulers?”

On how to end banditry, he said: “Some of them (bandits) are sick and tired of banditry and are ready to stop, but their political class or godfather doesn’t want them to retire.

“Every bandit camp in the Northwest, for instance, has respect for certain individuals or groups of individuals. All we need to do is to sit down and identify these individuals and let them talk to them,” Rufa’i said.