Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state is anxiously looking for sustainable peace amidst battle with bandits using the carrot and stick approach. AIDELOJE OJO reports.
How banditry, kidnapping spread in Niger.
Long before the inception of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello’s administration, Niger state had been experiencing banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping. It however, got to a high level two weeks ago when criminal elements invaded Government Science College Kagara and abducted 39 people including 27 students. Blueprint learnt that the invasion was the height of such criminal assaults coming at rapid succession against residents of the state. Checks revealed that from Shiroro and Munya local governments where the bandits began to launch pockets of operations in interior communities around 2014, the criminals have now spread fast into more than eight local governments including Rafi, Mariga, Rijau, Paikoro and Gurara. Not even Suleja town, a suburb of Abuja, the seat of power is spared by the bandits, according to reports. The atrocities being perpetuated in hundreds of communities across these local governments, according to reports, are unimaginable.
Comrade Ibrahim Bello, co- convener,
Concerned Shiroro Youths, succinctly captured the plight of residents in areas under siege, “Over 400 people have been killed from 2015 to date while 80 communities have been wiped out by the bandits in Shiroro local government alone”.
According to him, “The reality now is that all the 11 political wards of Rafi local governments are under the siege of bandits. Same scenario is in Munya where six political wards are currently in the hands of bandits while Mariga, Mashegu, Rijau, Paikoro and other local governments have been seized by the bandits.” The youth leader however commended the efforts of Governor Bello in fighting the bandits with adequate support to security agencies while frowning at the unimpressive response by the federal government to the situation in the state. Collaborating Bello, Mohammed Mamman, a resident of Rijau told Blueprint that the situation in Rijau is worse than Shiroro, adding that the entire local government has been occupied by bandits.
“Bandits operate freely in many communities in the Rijau area and this is under- reported. They even gather people from surrounding villages and force them to pay ransom to get their freedom”.
Analysts are however of the view that the state government has demonstrated enough political will, using available resources in supporting security agencies in the war against the bandits since the coming of the present administration in 2015. They are of the conviction that the governor has done exceedingly well in combating insecurity in the state considering the fact that other vital sectors and areas of responsibilities are competing for government attention. The chief press secretary to the governor, Mrs Marry Noel Barje, attested to this assertion in an interview with Blueprint. According to her, “Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has had to combine dealing with the hydra-headed monster called insecurity and building up other sectors, especially education, health, agriculture and livestock and infrastructural developments.”
Sleepless nights over students abduction
Governor Sani Bello was terribly hit and shocked when he got the news of the abduction of students in the Kagara area of the state, according to his aides. Blueprint learnt that he was on a peace mission to another state as chairman of North-Central Governors Forum when the bandits struck and ferried into the forest 27 students along with some staff. The news, according to reports, took the governor off his steps and within hours he was back to the Government House Minna to coordinate efforts towards the release of the boys whom he described as his children. Days ran into nights as the government and relatives of the abducted students kept vigil waiting for their release. Addressing journalists two days into the waiting game, the governor said, “The students are still in captivity in the forest in the hands of the bandits. We are making frantic efforts to secure their release. I cannot sleep when our children are having sleepless nights in the forest. I can assure you especially their parents that we will get them out soon enough”. However, the soon enough became 10 days of sleepless nights for the governor before the abductees regained freedom and were ferried to Government House Minna into his warm embrace.
How government secured freedom for abductees
Not many knew what passed under the bridge and the frantic behind the scene resulting in the freedom of the abducted victims. Some even speculated the payment of ransom by the government and relations which had been dismissed. However, it was learnt that there were other levels of dialogue with the bandits which yielded fruitful results in the release of the victims. It was gathered that the renowned Islamic cleric, Abubakar Gumi rushed into Government House Minna just hours after the abduction of the students for a private meeting with Governor Bello.
The anxious mood at the time the Islamic Scholar arrived depicts the urgency the situation needed for the safety of the students which was paramount to the governor who was said to have assigned his SSG, Ibrahim Matane to go into the forest along with the Islamic scholar on a peace mission. With fears of the unknown the SSG was said to have obliged his boss and entered the jungles dominated by bandits towards a peaceful release of the students and other victims.
Matane told Blueprint that, “It was a matter of death and life, anything could have happened but God knows that we were there for the children.” According to him, the negotiation team had eventful contact with the bandits’ commanders which afforded the government to listen to their side of the story. He explained that the engagement hinged on negotiation for a ceasefire in exchange for sustainable means of livelihood, adding that some of the commanders keyed into the agreement and also promised to involve other colleagues in other parts of the state so that the entire state would be peaceful without banditry activities. He said that the government has extended hands of carrot approach with the bandits while holding to the stick with security operations going on in various locations. “Believe me, the outcome of the meeting with the bandits commanders is the release of the students and the NSTA passengers.”
The search for peace
Apparently realising the significance of peace, Governor Bello has evolved both the carrot and stick approach in battling the bandits. He has supported security agencies to conduct combat missions in some local government areas of the state. Affirming this, the CPS said, “This has been the core philosophy of Niger state government since Governor Sani Bello came on board on May 29, 2015. He has not minced his words in his determination and commitment to maintaining cordial peace and harmony across the state through the collaborative efforts of security agencies, traditional institutions and the state government.” She explained that as a response to the need for innovative, effective and efficient peace building and development methodology, the governor has been providing platforms for the exchange of ideas between the critical stakeholders in security and key government officials. According to her, “The governor is equally actively involved in the peace building processes in parts of the country’’. However, it is apparent that in spite of all civilized approach engaged by the government, offering some of the bandits’ amnesty and even pledging to provide some with a means of livelihood to stop their nefarious activities, some of them have continued to unleash mayhem on some communities in the state. But this notwithstanding, it is expected that when all the bandits commanders come under one umbrella as talks with government continue, peace will gradually return to the state.
