Bandits have always been around and form part and parcel of every society, including Nigeria. But banditry as a vocation started in Nigeria in 2011. Since 2011, violent conflicts have raged between herders and sedentary farmers in parts of northwest and north-central Nigeria over access to scarce resources such as land, grazing area, and water. In addition to scarce resources, banditry is fueled by religious extremism, poverty, access to arms and drugs, and lack of punishment for the perpetrators.
Out of these conflicts, armed groups and organized criminal gangs emerged and started perpetrating various forms of criminality, such as cattle-rustling, kidnapping for ransom, plunder, murder, rape, systematic destruction of communities, and widespread abuses. They have attacked markets, mines, rail lines, robbed on highways and engaged in mass abductions of school children and villagers. Thousands of innocent people have been killed and more than a million displaced from their homes and villages as a result of the violent activities of bandits. They visit extreme violence on their victims to extract a ransom.
Several states in the northwest, such as Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Kebbi have been plagued by frequent attacks, kidnappings, looting, extortion, and cattle rustling by bandits and terrorists. Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, and Niger States are hotbeds of banditry in the north-central.
More than one hundred groups of bandits, with hundreds of thousands of militants, operate in those states. Several helpless communities with little or no government presence pay taxes to bandits in exchange for peace. Helpless individuals pay millions of naira to bandits. Farmers pay taxes and harvest fees to bandits to prevent attacks or be allowed access to their farms. Their activities have severe food insecurity and shortage, as many farmers can no longer access their farms. Bandits also sometimes settle local disputes and maintain ‘law and order.’
From ragtag armed gangs, bandits have over time acquired sophistication and metamorphosed into well-armed organized groups with the capacity to attack police stations, military formations, and critical national infrastructure. The confrontation with government security forces has taken a war-grade dimension. The police are unable to quell the rampaging bandits. The bandits are allegedly better equipped than the police. Apart from a lack of resources, the police also lack motivation to take on the bandits.
The government drafted the army to contain the bandits and armed them with new military equipment, including tanks and armored combat vehicles. The army launched Operations Harbin Kunama, Sharan Daji, and Accord and, in the process, killed or captured a large number of bandits, as well as retrieved guns and thousands of cattle.
There had been pressure on the federal government to declare the bandits as terrorists, as this would bring them within the ambit of the Terrorism Prevention Act. The government appeared reluctant to do so. However, an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo ruled on November 26, 2021, that the violent and criminal activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda bandit groups amounted to acts of terrorism. In line with this ruling, the federal government in January 2022 designated bandits as terrorists. The government said bandits were responsible for killings, abductions, rapes, and kidnapping in northern Nigeria. According to the government, they are answerable for increasing cases of:
Banditry, incessant kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of school children and other citizens, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and on commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria, particularly in the North-west and North-central States in Nigeria carrying out by Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other groups associated with or engaged in the same or similar activities as Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups in Nigeria.
The activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other similar groups constitute acts of terrorism that can lead to a breakdown of public order and safety and is a threat to national security and the corporate existence of Nigeria.
Despite the military efforts of the government, the bandits are still very active and thriving. Their designation as terrorists has not changed anything, as they remain ruthless and fearless as before.
On July 5, 2022, they attacked the convoy of cars carrying staff of the Presidency to Daura, the hometown of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Described as an ambush, the attack which occurred near Dutsinma, Katsina State, was repelled by security personnel accompanying them. Confirming the incident, the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu, issued the following statement captioned Gallant presidential guards repel the attack on the advance team ahead of President’s visit: “The Presidency has described as sad and unwelcome, the shooting incident near Dutsinma, Katsina State, at the convoy of cars carrying the Advance Team of security guards, protocol and media officers ahead of the President, Muhammadu Buhari’s trip to Daura for Sallah. The attackers opened fire on the convoy from ambush positions but were repelled by the military, police, and DSS personnel accompanying the convoy. Two persons in the convoy are receiving treatment for minor injuries they suffered. All the other personnel, staff, and vehicles made it safe to Daura.”
Though the statement said no lives were lost, other reports disputed that claim.
This and other attacks prompted the former governor of Katsina State, Mr. Aminu Masari, to urge residents to take up arms and defend themselves.
Banditry and terrorist attacks have become protracted and undefeatable, and no one knows the way out of the predicament. Past administrations were unable to contain the situation, despite numerous efforts and strategies.
Bandits and terrorists have continued with their nefarious activities since the inception of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Killings, kidnappings, and destruction of properties have persisted in several states. President Tinubu has challenged the military to rise to the occasion and devise strategies to tackle bandits and other criminal gangs destabilizing the country the same way they dealt with Boko Haram.
To put an end to banditry and terrorism, the former governor of Zamfara State, Malam Sani Yerima has urged President Tinubu to negotiate with the bandits and give them amnesty the same way Niger Delta militants were treated. Yerima has said that bandits are hapless, poor, hungry, and ignorant Nigerians.
However, northern leaders disagreed with the views expressed by Yerima and rejected his call for negotiation and amnesty for bandits. They argue that bandits do not have a central command or organized structure of leadership, and any agreement made with them was bound to fail. They have no faith in any agreement made with bandits as they reneged on past agreements concluded with States and communities in the north.
Chief Edwin Clark, a foremost statesman, and leader from the Niger Delta, has said that there is no basis for comparing amnesty for Niger Delta militants to the one being proposed for bandits. According to him, any such comparison is criminal.
Should President Tinubu negotiate with bandits as a way of solving the problem? Please have your say!
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