Zamfara killings far beyond farmers/herders clash rhetoric – Sarkin Yakin Tsafe
Alhaji Sanda Adamu Tsafe (Sarkin Yakin Tsafe) spoke to Daily Trust Saturday on the banditry plaguing Zamfara State, and other security issues. Excerpts:
Daily Trust: There’s an upsurge in killings in Zamfara State, especially in Tsafe, your local government area. What exactly is going on?
Let me begin by offering condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones. It is true things have gone out of control, especially in Tsafe. We pray to Almighty Allah to ease the horrific situation for us. In my view, what has led to the escalation of the insecurity in the state is that authorities have turned away from the real culprits.
In the last two years, killings have almost become a daily affair. Here in Tsafe local government, hardly a day passes without one hearing about attacks on villages. But up till now, we haven’t witnessed a single arrest, or shown anyone decisively dealt with in connection with the killings. Therefore, we must attribute the worsening of the situation to negligence on the part of the authorities.
DT: Some people say the crisis in Zamfara has more dimensions than the clash between herders and farmers. What’s your take on this?
It is our tradition in Zamfara to receive and embrace people from wherever, and some such people are even given lands to cultivate. So, for someone to say that what we are witnessing in Zamfara today is a clash between farmers and herders clash, I think, is an insult on our collective sensibilities. Most of the killings in the state are happening during the dry season when all crops have been harvested and moved. So what’s the connection between the killings, farmers and herders, or their clash?
Yes, it is traditional for farmers and herders to clash, and as septuagenarian I grew up witnessing these crises, but they never went beyond the crop seasons. Secondly, such killings are not taking place on farmlands. The armed men are invading villages, torching residential houses and grains harvested and stored. Are villages farmlands? It doesn’t add up.
DT: Many people, especially in the local government, have identified one Ado Alero as the brain behind most of the attacks, especially in Tsafe. Have you heard about him before?
Yes, even though I don’t know him. He is accused, mostly, of masterminding the deadly raids on rural communities. I have a close friend who narrowly escaped Alero’s attack, and he was narrating it to me. He said he went his farm, alongside other labourers, to work. Suddenly , Alero and his boys on five, arrived. My friend was taking a rest under a tree when they arrived. They all got off the motorbikes, leaving Alero sitting on one motorcycle. They went straight to the labourers working on the farms and dispossessed them of their motorbikes. Then they spotted my friend sitting under a tree and charged towards him, to abduct him. But they were stopped by Alero, who said my friend once showed kindness to his (Alero’s) father. And that was how escaped being kidnapped.
DT: How do you see the way the security operatives handle the issue of insecurity in the state?
Tsafe: I’m not satisfied with the way it is being tackled in the state, even though they are doing their best. We’ve heard that several identified camps of these criminals have been destroyed by the Nigerian Air Force. But up till now , nobody has ever told me that he had seen a single corpse of a criminal. But we are happy that more troops are being deployed to the state.
Our governor has travelled, I heard that he went on leave. Why won’t he return, since his house is on fire?
DT: What do you think about what’s being said, that the issue of insecurity has been politicised in the state? Do you have any advice or suggestions that could help?
What suggestion are you talking about? Will anyone’s advice be listened to? Even religious leaders are not being listened to; those in power have sealed their minds against any advice. How do you help? Every native inhabitant of this state is being disturbed by the killings, and he or she may have one or two things to suggest for a way out. But there’s no-one to listen.