₦airaland Forum

Not all bandits are criminals – Zamfara Gov.

The governor says most of the bandits take up arms due to the injustice meted on them by some members of the society.
ByNasir Ayitogo February 18, 2021 2 min read
The governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has said not all bandits who terrorise parts of the state and other neighbouring states are criminals.

The governor stated this on Thursday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He explained that most of the bandits take up arms due to the injustice meted on them by some members of the society.

Hundreds of persons have been killed or kidnapped by the bandits in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna and Nasarawa States in recent years.

Contrary to the claims by the governor, there have been suspicions that the criminality is a fallout of the artisanal mining of gold, lead and other mineral resources in those areas.

Despite the attacks on innocent citizens, Mr Matawalle has repeatedly called on the federal government to grant amnesty to repentant bandits.

Injustice on bandits
While explaining the reasons for the attacks, Mr Matawalle said those saddled with the responsibility of protecting the community sometimes rustle their cattle and destroy their livelihood.

He said since they have nobody to speak to, they resort to violence.

“Not all of them are criminals. If you investigate what is happening, and what made them to take the laws into their hands, some of them, sometimes were cheated by so-called the vigilante group.


“They normally go to their settlements and destroy property and take their animals. They did not have anyone to speak with, so sometimes, they go for revenge. When the vigilante group attacks them, they go for reprisals. That is exactly what happened,” the governor said.

He also indicted the military, whom he said contribute to the problems in the villages.

“Some of them are living in settlements close to villages or towns. When there are military operations, the military will go and destroy their property and animals. They are angry with such actions sometimes. If you are talking to them, you can understand where they are coming from and their problems,” Mr Matawalle said.



“It is important for us as leaders to sit down with them and understand what is the genesis. You can’t just conclude that this person is a criminal. You have to listen to him. What led him to go into such activities?

“It is not all Fulanis that are criminals. Some are good citizens, but due to some circumstances, they subscribed to such criminality but when we had the information, we called their leaders and sat with them, they told us their grudges and we sorted out the way the communities and the Fulanis can resolve their issues without any serious crisis.”

He said he believes the problem will be put to an end if governors can follow in his footsteps.

“In my state, I am constructing RUGA for them, like a settlement that can contain some of them because sincerely speaking, if we allow them going around from one place to another, we cannot find a solution to this issue.

“So the only thing the governors should do and we are discussing that is to contain them in one place. Like a Fulani from Zamfara should not migrate to another neighbouring state. How are we going to do that? This is something that needs a lot of resources because you will have to create something that can engage them.


“You have to provide social amenities for them. Like the RUGA that we are doing, we have many amenities like school, hospital, veterinary clinic, market and even mini stadium.


“If we allow them to migrate from one place to another, that is where the problem is. I believe that very soon, the Nigeria Governors Forum will discuss that so that we can be able to know what action all the governors should take to contain them in one place,” the governor stated

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nnorth-east/443593-not-all-bandits-are-criminals-zamfara-gov.html

THUNDER ROAST YOUR LIPS


UNA GO GET SENSE WHEN THE MONSTERS U MADE SWALLOW UNA UP

Aboki that not know what bandit mean.

Na so madness dey take start... Waka and a shameful death to all those who support these bâstard terrorists called bandits in one way or the other amin

but all bandit are criminals including all the leaders from the north

Which kind talk is this one Chineke m

i fvvking hate this idiot!

Typical example of whenever power gets to the wrong hands...

No sense in this statement infact common sense is missing here!!!

Can u read what u wrote again so that u can answer the question ur self.

Not all bandits are criminals, but all criminals are bandits.

Nah eh! No qualms
This is so unsophisticated

Seems like this guy skipped English classes
Throughout his life

I fear who no fear how Northerners reason.

What? Somebody should get Mr governor a dictionary.
Premium disgrace leleyi o

He's very right, especially if you relax and give his opinion a backward kind of second thought,na then you go know say dictionary na scarce commodity for the whole of north....... Infact,from now on,every sensible Nigerian should equally know that not every ipob member is a terrorist...

It should and must be viewed as an act of absolute foolishness to tag a group without alms a terrorist group and tag the one that carries alms and cause havoc a non-criminal group....

Disclaimer; I'm urhobo and a Deltan..So I've nothing to do with ipob.. But I'm only stating the fact.

They don use Nigeria pant

I don't understand.........Chai

and they say Nigeria must be one...

It cannot work.

He is speaking the mind of the Futa jalon slave masters

We don't know bandits...naa Terrorists we know

A governor that doesn't know the meaning of bandit!

incredible

This man must be a joker.

Chai!

The man spoke the truth with fairness,the headline is just a trying to be sensational

Goro chewing bastadds everywhere

Family affair

Hahaha. Be. Like say many people dey ment for this country o.

When you justify the offenses of criminals because they are of your tribe, then you shouldn't call for the head of other tribes when they start doing and eye for an eye

He is talking in the capacity of their chief patron

Just look at the sort of illiterates that we have in government....even a primary school student in a very good school cant make such statements.... or doesn't he know the meaning of the word bandit ... a bandit is an outlaw and an outlaw is a criminal first... its a crime to b a bandit ... its like saying not all prostitutes sleep with men for money

Lol. Okay na