Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Mohammed Matawalle has disagreed with the narrative that mining in some parts of the North Western states is responsible for the continuous Banditary activities witnessed, mostly Zamfara state.
He stands to say leaders of the Northern states are solely responsible for the plight of the region.
These, among other reasons are what Governor Matawalle of Zamfara state presented in an 18-paged paper titled ‘The Fight Against Banditry in Northwest Nigeria: Challenges and Solutions’, at the annual conference and inauguration of the new executives of Arewa Media Writers Association held in Kaduna.
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The Governor, represented by his former commissioner for Information, Zamfara state, Alh. Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, stands to butressed his arguments to cite Shinkafi and Zurmi local government areas of Zamfara state as hotspots of various nefarious activities caused by bandits, but explained no single gold deposit, as well, are not known for any mining activity.
Matawalle to begin, noted Rural banditry and related crimes are posing a serious security threat in Nigeria’s northwestern region, and for decades has remained the most formidable security challenge ever faced by the region according to history.
“Northwest Nigeria has been battling with a serious problem of rural
banditry, which takes the pattern of kidnapping, village raids, highway robbery, and cattle rustling.
According to him, “It is quite puzzling to note that quite a number of literature on
banditry in the northwest and Zamfara State, in particular, make spurious claims as regards the origin of the phenomenon and what motivates and sustains it. ‘Illegal mining,’ according to many, was to blame.
“Banditry is the consequence of illicit collusion between miners and authorities and Chinese gold merchants. It was wrongly claimed that banditry in Zamfara State began with the targeting of rural marketplaces and mining sites
where liquid and unbanked currency flowed, citing an unusual case of an attack on a mining site at Bindin, in which 40 miners were killed.
“The insinuation that banditry is connected to ‘illegal mining’ is based on resource curse theory that most crises in resource endowed societies are connected to the struggle for control of those resources.
“It was further argued that those involved in artisanal mining in Zamfara State are ‘criminal
gangs’ who supply the weapons used in Zamfara killings and that they remain unchecked because they have godfathers among some influential people. Another argument is that the killings in Zamfara State could be explained by the clash of interest
between artisanal miners and local and foreign corporate miners”, he explained.
Continuing, “Some researchers have presented more compelling reasons as to the source of banditry in the northwest. Claims that the failure of the Nigerian State to exert power and control over wide expanses of land known as ungoverned spaces is to blame for banditry The socio-economic conditions in the area are informal, and there is no surveillance system in place, making it perfect ground for
warlordism to thrive.
“Another study links banditry to nomadic migrancy, whereby migrant nomads take advantage of the inability of government to control the ungoverned spaces to unleash terror”.
The Governor however denounced claims as he opined that Rural banditry in Zamfara and other parts of the north is a result of the progressive degradation of moral standards and a culture of selfishness for material goods.
“The culture of cattle raiding by pastoralist groups is not something new. It was practised
in the days gone by to demonstrate courage and bravery, and no violence was used. What we witness today, however, are horrible
crimes unimaginable, which include rape, killings of women and children, kidnapping, highway robbery and other gruesome
atrocities
“It is evident, therefore, the leaders are responsible for the plight of the north. The north lacks responsible leadership to steer it through our time’s uncharted waters. Our ruling elite has no vision for the region beyond gaining political power”.
Consequently, the Governor in his paper was quick to give Strategy Adopted by his administration to Combat banditry in Zamfara State on assumption of office, opined leaders in the region to follow suit as there is relative peace compared to the security status the state was.
One of it was the peace dailogue adopted, among others.
“We agreed that dialogue and reconciliation were the best ways to deal with a protracted situation that was gradually taking on an intercommunal and ethnic
tone.
“All conflicts involving ethnic and religious fault lines, in my opinion, should be tackled with a flexible strategy. There is no one-size-fits all solution to such issues. In reality, experience has shown that they are better addressed via dialogue and reconciliation, as violence frequently leads to further violence.”.
He therefore charged on the northern leaders to be more serious in their fight against Banditary as the menace is capable to consume the region in no time.
“Unless we all wake up to the situation, the war against banditry in the north west will remain a significant security challenge that has the potential to swallow the region and the country. The destruction that banditry is wreaking on the region’s people and economy is unfathomable. This is a siren appeal to leaders of the region to wake up from their lethargy and unite in combating this grave challenge. We need to get to the roots of the situtaion, stop politicising it and act disively”.
