It was exactly nineteen minutes
past midnight, few moments into Thursday the 22nd of August. I had
gone to bed. My eyes were already closed and sleep was descending quietly.
Somehow, unlike many people I don’t normally switch my hand phone at night.
There are usually no calls during that time except when I initiate them. But
who could this caller be? I asked myself as I picked my phone which was
vibrating by the bedside. For the past several weeks there have been renewed
security challenges in the rural areas of Batsari and western part of Jibia
local Governments. This is a place where my maternal relations are spread. On
my fathers’ side I have no relations in this area. My father hailed from Bugaje
ward in the eastern part of Jibia local Government. Thus back and front, as
Hausa speakers will put it, I am from Jibia Local Government. I wish I had
relations in Niger Republic so that I can be visiting the neighbouring country from
time to time like many settlers in my native Jibia town do. But I have none.
The last time I visited Maradi, the nearest Nigerien town to Jibia was more
than thirty years ago.
So even as I stretched my hand to
pick my inexpensive android phone, I thought it must be one of my relations
calling. At times like this, they sleep during the day and spend their nights
on guard. Of course, there is usually little they can do to confront the
heavily armed bandits. To compound their problems, Governors of North western
states met recently in Katsina and outlawed volunteers popularly known in the
area as ‘yan sa kai’ which are the Northwest equivalent of civilian JTF in the
North East. The most unfortunate thing is that the politicians did not provide
any alternative.
Another problem is the recent
peace initiative in Zamfara state. Somehow His Excellency the President sat in
Abuja watching a PDP Governor reconciled with bandits and like magic it began
to work. People who have confessed killing hundreds are now free. To worsen the
situation, the level of criminality in his own state of Katsina rose
immediately, with none of himself, his Governor and their party raising doubts
as to whether or not the opposition had a hand in the crimes in the first
place. But whosoever is behind it does not seem to be their business, anyway.
After all, the honourable Hajiya minister has observed that Nigerians are too
many.
In situations like this I usually
call some of the villagers when I wake up at late hours of the night and I am
always sure to get them. We shall talk for a few minutes before I go back to
bed or do something else. They only call me at late hours when there is a
criminal attack in their area. There is nothing I can do either. A Muslim will
usually pray and I do. So this call must be from one of them, I thought. And I
was right. It was one of my uncles. This one is younger than me but unlike me
he did not have the privilege of going to the whiteman’s school. He is a farmer.
There was an ongoing attack in
the nearby village of Zandam which is about two kilometers away, he told me.
They could hear the sound of gunshots from their position. There was no need to
call the people in Zandam in that situation. The DPO had already been informed
but only for the sake of it. His men were to come about five hours later from
Jibia which was only ten kilometers away. We lamented and prayed over the phone
before hanging up. I then made two unsuccessful calls to Jibia and waited for a
sleep that had gone away for the night. Some thirty minutes later when I called
him he told me in a very low tone that the bandits were already in his village
and immediately switched off.
But Zandam was not the first town
to be attacked in the renewed violence in Jibia LGA. A day earlier, another
village called Tsayau was attacked and four of its dwellers killed. There is
something interesting about Tsayau. Literally, you can say there are two
Tsayaus separated by a stream. One of them is our own Tsayau in Jibia LGA. The
other Tsayau is in Niger Republic. Over the past few years, Nigerian Tsayau has
been attacked several times, but Nigerien Tsayau has never experienced a bandit
attack due to the vigilance of the Nigerien security forces.
A day before the Tsayau attack,
there was another attack in Garin Gado about six kilometers out of Jibia. Wherever
they go, the bandits rape, maim, kill and take away animals and in many cases
women with them. They also burn assets especially cars and motorcycles.
The next time I spoke with uncle
was in the morning. But even before we spoke, I got information from my cousin
in Zandam that one Sani was killed during the night attack. His offence? The
criminals asked for money and he showed them a fifty Naira note which he
confessed was the last money he had. They shot him. In another household they
attempted to take a small child and the mother stood in their way. They shot
her and her husband and left them in blood. They were taken to hospital after
the bandits left the village. They took away many cows whose exact number could
not be verified by my Zandam sources. But most of the animals are ones used for
farming.
My uncle confirmed to me when we
spoke later that fifteen cows were rustled from his village. No woman was taken
by the bandits.
The next night I received another
call. The bandits struck again. This time it was Mallamawa fadi ka gurje a
distance of less than ten kilometers west Zandam. By the time they left, 13
women forcefully left with them, in addition to the ones they raped and dumped.
Animals were taken and property burnt down.
The next day (Friday) in the
afternoon some cattle rustlers were intercepted by the Nigerian Army around
Gurbin Baure along Jibia – Gusau highway. Two of the cattle rustlers were
killed and three arrested. The animals were taken back. This is probably what
made the larger gang to launch a reprisal attack on traders returning from
Jibia market on Gurbin Baure - Shimfida road off the highway. This took place
on Sunday. The Army came to the rescue but ran out of ammunitions and had to retreat.
Eight vehicles, three of them belonging to the Nigerian Army were burnt to
ashes by the bandits. The deaths and injuries are better imagined. But the
Police later announced that only three people were injured.
As I m writing this piece,
another village Tsambe in Jibia Local Government was attacked last night.
But Jibia is not the only place
currently under attack. Batsari, Safana and other local governments in Katsina
are having their own share of the renewed attacks. For example, on Monday the 26th
of August, Wurma in Kurfi Local Government was attacked. More than two hundred
bandits speaking with Zamfara accent arrived the village at around 11pm and
spent more than three hours searching from house to house and room to room.
They later kidnapped 42 people, 41 of them women and girls. This is in addition
to the property they took along with them and the one they destroyed.
President Buhari seems to
underestimate the level of crime taking place in deep areas of Katsina State. Even
people like me who are not security experts know that the approach of Federal
Government cannot work. How can a Commander-in-chief who has ordered his Army
to rout criminals wherever they are allow a Governor to provide a hideout for
the same criminals in the name of reconciliation? As things are, Zamfara state
serves as the base for the bandits where they resort to after launching attacks
in Katsina state.
But even without Zamfara, the
Federal Government’s method of sending the Army to guard the highways and Air
force to target bandits’ locations is another blunder. This has resulted in the
highways being heavily guarded and the deep areas exposed to criminality. And
because both the Army and Air Force have no knowledge of the area and are
apparently not using any intelligence report, damages have reportedly been inflicted
on innocent people with criminals left untackled.
If sincere advice is anything to
go by, Mr. President should take certain necessary steps. One, he should
consider the North West security as a priority and personally take charge. Two,
Mr. President should abrogate the peace accord in Zamfara and use the full
force of Federal Government to bring an end to banditry. Three, if an end is to
be seen to this menace, civilian JTF must be established consisting of youth
from the communities affected. Our communities are ready to provide the young
people to be trained to work with regular security forces. The method of
leaving soldiers to operate only on highways should be past.