Peace Deals With Bandits?

Some of the videos trending online, arising from the existent attempts to negociate with bandits by immoderate section authorities areas of Katsina State, person justified the presumption of astir Nigerians, including this newspaper, who person kicked against dialog with the bandits.

As astatine the past count, eleven section authorities areas comprising Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Ɗanmusa, Kurfi, Musawa, Matazu, Faskari, Kankara, Ɗandume and Sabuwa person signed what the authorities called a bid woody with bandits. These deals were monitored by authorities officials, accepted rulers and adjacent information operatives.

The latest assembly country to participate specified a intelligibly futile entente cordiale with these criminals and rogue elements is the Sabuwa section authorities area. However, the benignant of weapons displayed by these bandits and the information that they were not taken distant from them amusement however fragile the alleged dialog and bid deals are.

These panic elements came to what was expected to beryllium a bid speech equipped with AK-47 rifles,

Rocket-Propelled Grenade and GMG, among different deadly weapons, and returned to the wood with these weapons.

If the information that they came heavy equipped and near with their weapons intact is not worrisome, past the audacity with which immoderate of the bandits’ representatives spoke astatine the alleged bid suggests that we person mislaid it.

Bandits Release 70 Victims After Peace Deal With Katsina Communities

With a boldness that we find hard to comprehend, 1 of the bandits’ leaders, successful a video that has been trending online, told authorities and information officials gathered astatine 1 of the bid deals that if the authorities kills 10 bandits, 20 others volition travel up to regenerate them. What impudence. Like astir Nigerians, we are tempted to reason that the federation appears to beryllium astatine the mercy of these renegades.

One happening is certain: Officials of the section authorities areas successful Katsina authorities negotiating with these bandits are seemingly doing truthful from a presumption of weakness. Therein lies the danger. And we find it hard to recognize however we descended truthful low.

We person said repeatedly that dialog with these criminals is not the mode to go. And determination are precedents to enactment our position. Even successful Katsina state, erstwhile Governor Aminu Bello Masari negotiated with them, visited these renegades successful their hideouts successful the forest, offered them monetary incentives and had a photograph league with them. What happened afterwards? More killings.

In Zamfara, erstwhile Governor Mohammed Matawalle and now  curate of authorities for Defence, offered amnesty to bandits who person killed, maimed, raped, displaced and abducted hundreds of citizens, believing that would extremity the menace, but thing changed. Zamfara is inactive the hotbed of banditry.

Perhaps that was wherefore Governors Dikko Umar Radda and Lawal Dauda Dare, who succeeded Masari and Matawalle respectively, repeatedly said they wouldn’t negociate with bandits. It appears Governor Radda has changed his stand, which is wherefore 11 assembly areas successful Katsina authorities person entered what authorities claimed are bid deals with these panic elements.

Regardless of however we presumption it, these negotiations with bandits who person killed scores, received hundreds of millions successful ransom aft abducting many, displaced communities and made beingness brutish for millions of residents successful the assembly areas of states crossed the northwest, showed a weakness connected the portion of the state. No magnitude of gaslighting tin alteration this fact.

There are truthful galore unanswered questions astir the alleged bid deal. Does this not intelligibly amusement that the authorities has failed to support lives and property? Will it present the bid that we each person been yearning for? In presumption of the information that erstwhile bid deals did not extremity this criminality, what assurance does the federation person that the latest effort volition beryllium immoderate different?

Our presumption connected dialog with bandits has not changed and volition not. We are against it due to the fact that we judge that it is an inducement to further crimes. How tin the federation pacify persons who kill, maim, rape, abduct for ransom and perpetrate each sorts of crimes against the citizens and expect to extremity crimes?

Assuming without conceding that negotiations with bandits is the solution to the existent challenges and volition yet warrant lasting peace, what measures are being taken to placate the victims of their crimes? Justice demands that victims of crimes person restitution, and until that is done, the federation cannot beryllium connected its mode to enduring peace.

Even worse, successful our opinion, is the information that what is going connected indicates a duplicity connected the portion of the information apparatus of state- moving with the hare portion astatine aforesaid clip hunting with the hound.

Similarly, it goes to beryllium close the speculat...