Restoring peace to the killing fields of Kaduna and Zamfara

State of insecurity in Nigeria

The greatest challenge facing Nigeria today is not corruption or infrastructure deficit. It is insecurity. Nigerians, including myself, do not feel secure across the country and this is known to our political leaders. Insecurity stares us in the face. This year makes it a decade since Boko Haram insurgency started in Borno State. This has spread to other states like Adamawa, Yobe, Kano and Abuja before it was contained and restricted to the BAY states, that is, Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. In the intervening period, thousands of lives had been lost and millions displaced. Several abductions had also taken place with those of Chibok in Borno and Dapchi in Yobe making news headlines.

For some time now, Nigeria has been one of the countries with high rate of kidnapping, either for ransom or for ritual. Abductions used to be most pronounced in the Niger Delta communities.  However, in the recent years, kidnapping and banditry have scaled up in northern Nigeria especially in states like Zamfara and Kaduna States. Before going into details of causative factors, it is important to also mention that herders / farmers clashes has also become most pronounced in many northern states particularly in the last three years.

 In a December 17, 2018 report, Amnesty International said more than 3,600 people have been killed in clashes between farmers and herders in Nigeria since 2016. The international human rights organisation said more than 2,000 were killed in 2018 alone, while the bloodshed had made thousands of other people homeless. Mostly affected in the farmers / herders conflict are the states in the Middle Belt region especially Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Kogi, and Nasarawa.

Kaduna and Zamfara killings

While the killings in the Middle Belt seems to have been largely contained, Kaduna and Zamfara are topping the list of most insecure states in Nigeria due to the activities of miscreants who are engaging in full blown criminality. In Kaduna, it is largely abduction for ransom. For instance, Abuja to Kaduna highway has become so unsafe that many elites now join the masses to commute by train instead of traveling via road from Abuja to Kaduna and vice-versa. On daily basis, there are reported cases of commuters being abducted on that ever busy highway particularly around the Jere axis. Among the high profile persons who had been kidnapped along that road include a former female minister. Another hotspot of kidnapping in Kaduna State is the Brinin Gwari area. This community is believed to be rich in gold with a lot of illegal artisanal mining going on there.  Aside these two volatile areas, there is the Kajuru Local Government Area killings in which many of the villages have been sacked by some bandits.

News has it that the Kajuru killings has economic undertone. Though there is element of herders / farmers clashes involved, there are also reported cases of attempt by some settlers in the area to control the Ginger market and export. Furthermore, there is allegation of plot to annex the lands of the indigenous people of the local government by some of the settlers. The unfortunate incident has led to loss of hundreds of lives including that of the paramount ruler of the Adara Kingdom known as Agwom Adara, destruction of many homes and displacement of many families.

Zamfara too has been in the news repeatedly for wrong reasons. As far back as 2010, there were reported cases of lead poisoning in which hundreds of people, many of whom are children died. According to Doctors without Borders in its May 11, 2012 report,” in March 2010, MSF was alerted to a high number of child fatalities in Zamfara state, northern Nigeria – an estimated 400 children died. Laboratory testing later confirmed high levels of lead in the blood of the surviving children.” The root cause of the lead poisoning crisis is said to be unsafe mining and ore processing. Recently, apart from the state being embroiled in political crisis especially over conduct of party primaries by the ruling All Progressives Congress, in the past three years, Zamfara has been experiencing high level of banditry.

Just like the case of Birnin Gwari in Kaduna, Zamfara, a state with a number of solid minerals such as gold, zinc, and lead has been experiencing a lot of illegal mining by foreigners. According to news report, these illegal miners seem to have been the brain behind some of the kidnapping and murderous activities in the state. In a press release last Tuesday, April 9, 2019, according to the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, the Federal Government has intelligence report that suggested close collaboration between the activities of the bandits and illegal miners in Zamfara State, hence the announcement of suspension of all mining activities in the state.

Banditry in Zamfara state is not all about illegal mining, there are also other acts of crimes and criminalities being perpetrated by some bandits who engage in abduction for ransom, cattle rustling, raiding and destruction of many villages in the state. The Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul-Aziz Yari was so overwhelmed with the insecurity in the state that he called for the declaration of “State of Emergency” in his state. According to news report the governor on Thursday, December 27, 2019 expressed support for the call on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the state. I must add that Zamfara’s next door neighbours – Katsina and Sokoto states have also been experiencing a lot of banditry. The modus operandi of these bandits are similar to those in Zamfara. The bandits abduct for ransom, engage in cattle rustling and razing of plundered communities.

What are the major causative factors?

Aside those already mentioned such as territorial expansionism agenda of the perpetrators and illegal mining,  other causative factors include unemployment, porous borders and boundaries, poverty, greed, lack of patriotism, politics, ethnicity, religion, dearth of security personnel, poor intelligence gathering by security agencies, sabotage, lack of modern equipment for security agencies, among others.

Effects of the banditry in Kaduna and Zamfara

Sorrow, tears and blood. In these states, life is in the Hobessian State of Nature – Short, brutish and nasty. Many innocent lives have been lost. Many have been maimed. Many have been displaced from their ancestral homes. The social dislocation has overburdened many of the victims’ friends and relations. Economic activities such as farming and trading in the affected areas have been slowed down or halted. The country is now faced with food insecurity. Education, health and other social services in the affected areas have also been disrupted.

What have been done by citizens to halt the ugly phenomenon?

Citizens, especially indigenes of Kaduna and Zamfara have organised several street protests; written several petitions to the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Police and other security agencies; the United Nations and several international human rights bodies such as the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to come to their aid. Several editorials, Features, Commentaries and Big Stories have been written by Nigerian and international press to bring an end to these heart-rending developments in Zamfara and Kaduna States.

The law: What does it say?

Section 14 (2) (b) says “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Several of the Fundamental Human Rights such as Right to Life, Right to Own Property, and Freedom from Discrimination of the people have been violated by reason of this insecurity.

What has the government done?

Both federal and affected states have initiated several military operations in the past to no avail. Recall that on January 1, 2019, Nigerian military claimed to have started Operation Python Dance III nationwide to flush out these criminal elements. 

In the press statement signed by the Public Relations Officer to the Minster of Defence, Col. Tukur Gusau, “The ministry is very concerned about the security challenges in the North-West region and particularly, in states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Kaduna states. Due to the recent prevailing security situation in the states, the Army is already conducting Exercise Harbin Kunama IV in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states. The purpose of the exercise is to effectively flush out the activities of criminal elements in the North-West.  The minister alleged that some unpatriotic persons, including highly placed traditional rulers in the areas, were identified as helping the bandits with intelligence to perpetuate their nefarious actions or to compromise military operations. This is preposterous and heart-rending!

The way forward

Though President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to improve the security situation in the country, this is yet to be seen. Many security analysts have called for the overhaul of security architecture of the country. There have also been calls for the amendment of the Constitution to pave way for State Police. Better funding of Nigeria’s security agencies has also been put forward as a possible solution. These are all good proposals. Is there the political will on the part of the government at all levels to improve the security of the country? Nigerians are yet to see. It is however heartwarming that the Senate has just passed the Police Trust Fund Bill. Likewise, on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, the Senate resolved to make N10 billion available in the 2019 budget to cater for the internally displaced and other persons affected by the activities of bandits in Zamfara State. Above all, there is need for government at all levels to tackle the problem of unemployment and impunity which has incentivize many of these bandits to take to crime.