•…400 Zamfara villages under siege, 3,650 killed, 6,500 kidnapped in four years – Shinkafi

••Says ex-IG Abubakar panel indicted traditional rulers, security agencies, drug dealers, barons
•‘Kingpin Halilu freed 278 captives he couldn’t feed but eight died before help came’
•Believes Zamfara bandits have more sophisticated weapons than military, police
•Discloses bandits impose between N20 million and N50 million levies on locals
•‘Politicians play politics amid killings’
•Explains how conspiracy of silence fuels banditry

By Dickson Omobola

As the nation continues to mourn dozens of military personnel who died in an ambush laid by bandits in Niger State last week and the crash of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter conveying wounded officers and men that followed, it has been revealed that about 400 villages in neighbouring Zamfara State are under bandits’ siege.

Former Chairman, Committee on Prosecution of Bandit-Related Offences in Zamfara State, Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, made the chilling revelation among others last week. Shinkafi also said 3,650 people had been killed and 6,500 kidnapped in four years in the state by bandits who, according to him, impose between N20 million and N50 million levies on locals. Excerpts of interview:

Do you believe that there will be an end to the continual attacks carried out by bandits in Zamfara State?

Banditry is a criminal enterprise. People are being kidnapped for ransom. Armed robbery, killings of innocent lives, illegal levies and a lot of other activities are other things that can be associated with them.

Banditry has turned into a criminal enterprise, and it is very difficult to put an end to it within the shortest period of time.

There are a lot of root factors causing armed banditry in Zamfara State. They include weak security apparatus, operation of small arms and light weapons as well as poverty, unemployment and bad governance.

If you take a look at these things, you will realise that it is a compounded problem and it cannot be solved within the shortest period of time. Banditry started about a decade ago and former Governor Bello Matawalle came out with methodologies on how to end it.

He initiated peace dialogue, which failed. He also applied the carrot and stick approach. Those bandits who have decided to surrender and embrace peace were accepted by the government. However, there was military action against those who refused. The problem we have now is that more than 400 villages in Zamfara State are under the siege of armed bandits. Another problem we have is weak border control.

Where I come from in Shinkafi local government, we share border with Niger Republic, Sokoto State and Katsina State, so it is very easy for bandits and criminals in general to commit a crime in Zamfara and fly to Katsina, Sokoto or Niger.

Most of the forests in Niger, Kaduna, Katsina and Kebbi are connected to Zamfara State’s forests. So, the armed bandits operating in the state choose Zamfara as their epicenter and when they commit crime in either Kaduna or Katsina, they return to Zamfara.

Banditry is a criminal enterprise for many. When I served in a committee headed by M. D. Abubakar, who was a former Inspector General of Police, a lot of people were indicted by that committee. Those indicted include traditional rulers, security agencies, drug dealers, barons and quack doctors. The crime has a lot of value chain and bandits have no ideology to promote.

What were the impediments that the administration faced in tackling banditry?

The constitutional responsibility of security architects in the country lies with the Federal Government. On the part of the state governments, there is the issue of bad governance, conspiracy of silence and leading by deception. There are certain things that governors need to put in place to end banditry. Poverty is also a root cause of banditry.

The governors of Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Kebbi states need to come together to fight banditry as a team, but there is no political will and commitment on the part of government.

Why have states in the North-West failed to come together with the aim of combating this menace?
That is because there is no synergy among the governors. Since the inauguration of the new administration, I have not heard that the governors have met to address this issue of banditry.

At some point in Katsina State, the governor severed telecommunications services in an attempt to put an end to banditry. Did it yield any result?

There were results. Some information unavailable to traditional media houses is available on social media networks. There were results, especially in Zamfara State where I come from. It cut the supply of logistics to armed bandits camps across the state.

They have their camps across the 42 local governments of the state. It helped in cutting the supply of logistics as well as arms and ammunition. Also, payment of ransom and movement slowed down. In some villages, they move with more than 100 motorcycles, carrying three passengers on each bike with an AK 47 and three magazines.

When the supply was cut off, especially petrol, arms suppliers in the neighbouring countries were cut off because they couldn’t communicate with the bandits. It yielded a lot of results, relations of victims who were in captivity could not go to bandits camps and pay ransom. Activities of phone informants were also cut off. Those who supplied foods, drinks and drugs were cut off. An armed bandit kingpin called Halilu, who didn’t have food to feed victims and didn’t have the means to communicate with victims’ parents, released 278 victims in captivity in Sububu forest without one naira paid.

When they were released, we went to the forest to pick them up and they were taken to hospital. About 18 of them died. There were also some foreigners that he had to release because he didn’t have the means to feed them and no communication.

Currently, the people from states in the North-West, especially the people of Zamfara, are calling on President Tinubu to save their souls. Gusau to Sokoto is a no-go area.

It is the same thing from Gusau to Shinkafi. What I am saying is there is a need for the new Service Chiefs to change the narrative and they should be equipped because the armed bandits in Zamfara State have more sophisticated weapons than the Nigerian military and police put together in the state.

What do you mean by dead zone? Does it mean that bandits have taken over those places?

Yes, I have to say it without any apology. From 2015 to 2019, more than 3,650 people were killed, more than 6,500 people were kidnapped, more than 400,000 people were displaced and made to live in internally displaced persons, IDP, camps. Houses, vehicles, foodstuffs were destroyed.

The danger of banditry this year is that people cannot go to their farms talk less of going to harvest, which would result in serious food shortage, hunger and starvation in Zamfara. While walking with sophisticated weapons such as rocket launchers, grenades and AK 47, the bandits impose levies on locals between the range of N20 million and N50 million. There is a need for the new Service Chiefs to synergize with sister agencies to fight this crime and criminality in Zamfara and the entire North-West region.

Do you think Nigerians are asking the right questions about procurement of equipment, particularly at the National Assembly level?

A lot of money is budgeted every fiscal year for security personnel to buy equipment and other gadgets but it is worrisome that it isn’t yielding results.

In my own opinion, most of these aircraft or weapons that are being bought are not modern technology.

There is a need for those in the security sector to judiciously use the money budgeted for them for their operations and to buy new technological equipment to fight crime and criminality in Nigeria.

The issue of aircraft crash is something that has to be taken care of by the appropriate security agencies, most especially the managers of the air force. There should be checks and balances for the money budgeted for the procurement of military equipment.

Have you noticed any transformation since the Federal Government declared bandits as terrorists?
In the North-West, the fight against banditry by the military has not been aggressive because there is shortage of personnel.

Whenever the military is informed of an ongoing attack, the response we get is that they will have to get orders from the superior officers before they can act. Before their arrival, bandits would have carried out their operations and leave.

There is a need for training and retraining of military personnel, and there is a need for them to be equipped with modern equipment in order to tackle affected areas. Despite the declaration, we have faced challenges in Zamfara State, especially during the rainy season. It is very difficult for fighter jets to fly to bandit hideouts in the forest.

How do we reconcile the amount that the former administration spent on military operations against insurgency and banditry in the North?

There is a need for forensic audit. Each year, we hear that the Federal Government has budgeted money in trillions, yet it doesn’t yield any result. There is a need for checks and balances and forensic audits within the military and other security agencies. For instance, when they buy 500 Hilux vehicles in the annual budget, the next year they will buy another 1, 000 operational vehicles, yet when you want them to go for an operation, you will be told that these vehicles don’t have engine, tyre or other things.

Every kobo budgeted must be accounted for before another is appropriated in the next fiscal year. Lack of proper forensic audit on the money appropriated to these security agencies is one of the reasons the war hasn’t ended for more than 10 or 20 years, leading to their going on a rampage and taking the country to ransom.

In your opening statement, you spoke about people who were indicted. What happened to them?
There was a judicial commission of enquiry which the governor (Matawalle) constituted. Along the line, a lot of intrigues went on. Some of those who were indicted, especially some traditional rulers, about four emirs were dethroned. I think the case is still ongoing.

For those in the military, were they serving or former military personnel?

There were serving military personnel indicted in that report. When we wrote an invitation to the military command, they refused to release them to appear for questioning. In that report, we didn’t indict former military officers but we indicted ex-police personnel. Up till now, they have not been prosecuted because some of them went to court to challenge the report.

Where is the report now?

It is with the Zamfara State government. Some of them went to court and the case is still pending in court. It is only God that can stop the issue of banditry in Zamfara because even politicians are involved. They are playing politics with the security of lives and properties of our people. During electioneering, politicians were using insecurity as a yardstick to gain popularity.

What can you say about the call made by former Zamfara State governor, Sani Yerima, on dialogue with bandits?

It is a misplaced priority. Former Governor Bello Matawalle tried dialogue with bandits without result. I see no reason why people will be calling for dialogue with bandits. Bandits are not sincere and they are not just locals, they are foreigners. There are illegal mining activities and you know the root cause of this thing has a lot of segments – corruption, bad governance and poverty among others.

• Interview first aired on Channels TV Daily Sunrise