As part of efforts to stem the tide of banditry ravaging Zamfara state and other parts of the North-west and North-central states, President Muhammadu Buhari has declared the state a no-fly-zone.
The order followed the Friday abduction of the 279 school girls of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara state.
They were however released Monday.
What no-fly zone means
According to Wikipedia, a no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power’s territory during a conflict, similar in concept to an aerial demilitarised zone, and usually intend to prohibit the country’s military aircraft from operating in the region. Aircraft that violate a no-fly zone may be shot down by the enforcing state, depending on the terms of the NFZ. Air exclusion zones and anti-aircraft defences are sometimes set up in a civilian context, for example to protect sensitive locations, or events such as the 2012 London Olympic Games, against terrorist air attack.
No-fly zones are a modern phenomenon established in the 1990s. They can be distinguished from traditional air power missions by their coercive appropriation of another nation’s airspace only, to achieve aims on the ground within the target nation.
Presidential order
Announcing the decision Tuesday while speaking to journalists at the end of the National Security Council meeting in Abuja, National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno also said the president also banned all mining activities in the state.
Monguno further stated that the intelligence and security communities “have been mandated to go after all non-state actors, whose activities have been fueling chaos, for prosecution.”
President Buhari, the NSA also said, “has charged the new service chiefs to reclaim all areas under the control of bandits, insurgents and kidnappers, kidnappers and all others involved in criminal activities across the country.
“We are not going to be blackmailed. The government has the responsibility to assert its will. Citizens can reside wherever they want to reside. Anybody who is a criminal should be brought to book.”
“The president has also warned against ethnic profiling. We have (had) enough of chaos. Any individual that thinks he can cause disunity should have a rethink,” Monguno stated.
President abhors ransom
On payment of ransom to free victims, President Buhari said such practicewould continue to prosper kidnapping in the country.
The president said this in a statement in Abuja to celebrate the release of the abducted female students.
“Ransom payments will continue to prosper kidnapping,” he warned, while urging the police and the military to go after kidnappers and bring them to justice.
The president expressed “overwhelming joy” over release of the abducted female students.
Reacting to the development, he said: “I join the families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students.”
The president said he was excited that their ordeal came to a happy end without any incident, adding that “being held in captivity is an agonising experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us.”
He called for greater vigilance by the people so that human intelligence could be collected early enough to nip the bandits’ plans in the bud.
‘Shiroro deserted in 6 years’
In a related development, not less than 400 people were killed and 80 communities deserted following consistent attacks by armed bandits across 8 political wards of Shiroro local government area of Niger state in the last 6 years.
The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and Civil Society organisations in Niger state stated this Tuesday in a joint press conference in Minna.
Co-Convener of Concerned Shiroro Youths Bello Ibrahim said at the briefing that only Erena, Bassa and Allawa towns in the 8 wards under attacks of bandits in Shiroro local government had a semblance of life, while many villages had become desolate because the inhabitants fled to escape the attacks.
“But there is no community in the entire Lakpan axis that has not suffered one form of casualty or the other. I can tell you for free that over 80 communities have been sacked in Shiroro local government and more than 400 people have died from 2015 to date.
“We cannot even quantify the number of cattle that have been rustled, we cannot also quantify the number of women that have been raped, because in the case of rape, women hardly mentioned it because of the stigma”, he said.
While giving clearer perspective on the onslaught of bandits in Shiroro area of the state, Ibrahim explained that 8 political wards out of 15 that made up the local government, were firmly in the hands of the bandits, adding that each ward comprised 10 to 15 communities.
He said: “At least 80 communities have been wiped away because in Lakpan axis for example the only places you can see semblance of life and normalcy are Erena, Allawa and Bassa. But every other community in Lakpan axis of Shiroro local government is under siege.
“In some instances, the communities have been deserted and terrorist now even keep their kidnapped victims in these abandoned villages. It is on records that some of the abductees when they are released, come back with the stories that they were actually not kept in the bush but were kept in homes.”
Also speaking at the briefing, chairman of the state chapter of NYCN, Comrade Bello Sherrif advised government not to enter into blind negotiation and amnesty with the bandits, insisting that government should have a clear data base of the bandits and clear cut demands instead of rushing into negotiation.
“It is very important that we take a very holistic approach of the scenario going on. We need to know what are their demands, are they really after something and will granting amnesty better the lives of greater majority of our people? We do not even have their data base. Until we able to harmonize all their demand and all of them agree to key into the agreement based on particular demands, before you can grant amnesty to them,” Sheriff said.
He argued that negotiation with the bandits is not the best option, especially when there is no corresponding consensus from them to stay action in order to see how the negotiation goes.
The NYCN leader said: “When going into negotiation with anybody, there should be elements to show that yes he has keyed in to that negotiation. So if we are going into negotiation we should expect some level of consensus that they stay action, let’s see how the negotiation goes.
“However, the bandits are still attacking several villages despite the negotiation initiative.”