Path to Ending Banditry in Nigeria

To end banditry in Nigeria, Ejiofor Alike writes that the federal government should probe the sustained allegation that bandits were primed to destabilise former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, which was re-echoed recently by the former vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed, as well as the claim by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai that bandits were being paid monthly allowance by the government

The vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Datti Baba-Ahmed, recently challenged the federal government to question former governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State over his allegation that the government is paying bandits.

El-Rufai had sparked controversy when he alleged that both the federal government and the Kaduna State Government were worsening insecurity by empowering bandits.

Speaking in a television interview, the former governor claimed they paid about ₦1billion to criminal groups.

“The policy of the federal government now is to give bandits money and incentives. And it is being coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” El-Rufai added.

As a former governor, El-Rufai is believed to have privileged information on security issues.

Therefore, many Nigerians had expected the security and intelligence agencies not to dismiss the allegation but to invite him and conduct an open and transparent investigation.

But the ONSA resorted to denial and dismissal of such weighty allegations.

The military also dismissed claims that the Nigerian Armed Forces supported the payment of terrorists.

The Chief of Defence Operations, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, said the military’s approach to insecurity was anchored on the national Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration programme, coordinated under Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State and Zamfara State for the North-east and North-west regions, respectively.

“The essence of this national framework is for bandits who clearly want another route out of criminality. You surrender your weapons, and you are profiled in detail.

“Those found culpable face the law, while others who were forcibly conscripted or not directly involved in violent crimes are admitted into DDR centres for rehabilitation,” he explained.

But Baba-Ahmed condemned the reactions of the ONSA and insisted that El-Rufai should be invited to help security agencies in their investigation of his allegation.

He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of using insecurity as a political tool.

“El-Rufai cannot run away because he is part of it … My grudge with Nasiru’s statement is that he was part and parcel of the APC from 2013. Like he told you, he was one of the architects of it all. All of a sudden, he has to come and absolve himself. No! Nasiru is part and parcel of all that has been going on. We suffered; we are victims of Nasiru’s misrule in Zaria.”

According to media reports, Baba-Ahmed alleged that “insecurities were brought into Nigeria in the pre-2015 elections.”

“I think he (Nasiru) is right; the government has been paying them. Insecurity has been the APC’s way of staying in power,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed is not the first to allege that bandits were surreptitiously brought to Nigeria in the run-up to the 2015 general election.

During his 70th birthday, in February 2021, a former chieftain of the APC, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, had traced the origin of the current insecurity in the country to the influx of Fulani, who were brought into the country to help facilitate victory in the 2015 election.

“We are not asking the right question on how the same Fu­lani we have been living with suddenly turned out to be a menace.

“We also must ask how they had access to their guns,” he added.

Baraje said that the Fulani men wreaking havoc in the country are not the Nigerian Fulani.

“The security agencies have not been open about the nature of the problem.

“They have made arrests. Why haven’t they told the public who the terrorists are?” Baraje queried.

“After the election, the Fu­lani have refused to leave. I and other like minds wrote and warned those we started APC with that this was going to hap­pen but nobody listened,” he added.

The curious silence of Buhari’s administration to Baraje’s claim had made many Nigerians to conclude that the bandits were primed to soak innocent “dogs and baboons in blood” in the event that Buhari did not win that election.

Speaking in Hausa, when the members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), from Niger State paid him a courtesy visit in his Kaduna residence in May 2012, Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of the CPC in the 2011 election, warned that 2015 would be bloody if the elections were not transparent

“God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way.

“If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood,’’ Buhari had stated in what was described as subtle threats to Nigeria’s security.

Though Buhari won the 2015 presidential election, Nigeria has not known peace since then, fuelling the allegation that the foreign bandits imported to destabilise Jonathan’s government in the event of his refusal to relinquish power are responsible for the insecurity in the country.

It is high time the APC government ended the politicisation of insecurity and all forms of hypocrisy in the fight against insecurity.

It should investigate both El-Rufai’s allegation and Baba-Ahmed’s claim in an open and transparent manner.

The APC administration should come clean about all these allegations and counter allegations.

Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal ‘s recent statement that he knew the location of bandits in the state validates the allegation that the security agencies deliberately allowed banditry to linger to sustain the humongous annual defence budgets.

Lawal stated that he knows the exact locations of bandit leaders terrorising the state but is powerless to act because he does not control security agencies.

Citing a viral video, media reports quoted Lawal as saying: “I swear to Almighty Allah; wherever a bandit leader is located within Zamfara State, I know it and if he goes out, I know.

“With my mobile phone, I can show you where and where these bandits are today. But we cannot do anything beyond our powers,” he said

“If today, I have the power to give orders to the security agencies, I can assure you, we will end banditry in Zamfara State within two months. Most of the time, I shed tears for my people because I can see a problem but I cannot order the security operatives to act in time.”

“There was a time the bandits invaded Shinkafi and the security operatives were alerted, but they refused to go simply because they were not given orders from Abuja,” Lawal added.

The federal government should take up Baba-Ahmed’s challenge and probe these claims and counter claims.