Apparently not having learned any lesson from the experience of Katsina and it’s Governor, Aminu Bello Masari at the hands of bandits, the Governor of Zamfara State Bello Matawalle is attempting to pacify the criminals with gifts of cows.
The Katsina State government entered into a “peace agreement” with bandits in 2019 which resulted in the payments of huge sums of money to the criminals with a promise that they would stop attacking communities in the state.
Seven months later in May 2020, bandits resumed killing and pillaging of communities in the state. This has led to unrest among residents who have protested against the killings.
Governor Masari himself was forced to call of the peace deal in June, lamenting the refusal of the bandits to keep to their word.
Zamfara’s governor has opted to follow in Masari’s footsteps by offering two cows in exchange for every rifle dropped by bandits.
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The offer was made when the Governor hosted the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and the Director General of the Department of State Security (DSS) Mohammed Bichi on Thursday.
Matawalle said the cows were being offered because they would be of economic benefits to the criminals.
“For every rifle submitted by a repentant bandit, there would be compensation of two cows. We don’t want to give them money, so they wouldn’t use the money to purchase new weapons,” he said.
“We said we will compensate them with cows, they need the cows to advance their economic interest.
“We also told the repentant bandits that all “Dabas” (Camps) in the forests should be disbanded. We won’t accept a situation where the bandits will disarm and then go back to the forest and be staying in these camps or Dabas
“We asked them to either come to town and be reintegrated into the society or be given economic empowerment where they are, so that they would start a new life.
“Most of them are residing in forests under the shades of trees and inside caves. That is why we came up with RUGA policy to help them.”