By Suleima Umaru
Barely 16 days after President Muhammadu Buhari made his Democracy Day speech where he reassured of his Commitment to protect Nigeria maritime domain and Nigerians from all enemies both within and outside the country, Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara state, appears to have read the handwriting on the wall that this is no longer possible in his state.
The Kastina, home state of Buhari, is gradually falling into the waiting hands of the Bandits Group because of the repeated attacks of the Bandits. Mohammed Bazoum, the Niger President had said that the Bandits entered Niger Republic from Madawa and Bayan Dutsi and subsequently escalated to Nigeria states of Zamfara, SokotO, Kaduna, Kastina and other parts of Nigeria through the Maradi region .
Note that the Katsina state born Ngerian President had approved the extension of rail construction from the Lagos- Kano-Katsina to Maradi region in the Bazoum home country for economic and commercial benefits.Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and culture, may have reechoed the mind of the Katsina state born Nigerian President when he said that ‘’the extension of the rail network to Niger Republic is’’ intended for Nigeria to take economic advantages of import and export of Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, described as home of Bandits, which are landlocked countries.
The Nigerian President may not have known that the rail network would be providing an easy means of movement for the Bandits in their thousands into Nigeria from their different Camps to carry out their nefarious activities. The March 28, attack of the Abuja-Kaduna scheduled Train, where 64 passengers were abducted by the assailants bear eloquent testimony to the fact that Bandits from other countries in the SAHEL region have fully entered the country and working close with their local collaborators .
Dagvin Anderson a US ,army Major General had said that the muslim terrorists have set their sights on Nigerian southern and north western regions. Perhaps, this may have informed why the North American country of the United States are now sharing specific security intelligence with the Nigerian government.
The US, army Major General had said that ‘’the intelligence sharing is absolutely vital’’ , stressing that Joe Biden government will continue engage the government of Nigeria ‘’to provide them an understanding of what the terrorists are dong , their goal eventually, to turn Nigeria into a Muslim country’’.
Governor Mattawalle, who now sleeps with one eye open in Gusau, the Zamfara state Capital may not have waited for the Nigerian President to return from Kigali, Rwanda, where he had attended the 26th Commmonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, to seek his Presidential approval before giving the Executive order for individuals to defend themselves.
Magaji Dosara the state Comissioner for Information may have shocked the people of the state on Saturday, June 26, 2022, when he disclosed that it is now obvious that the government could no longer guarantee the protection of lives and protection in the state , urging the people obtain guns to defend themselves against the Bandits who appear to be ravaging the state, meaning that the security operatives have failed I their duty.The Zamfara state government had said that ‘’the measure became necessary following the deteriorating security situation in various parts of the state’’.
The Commissioner was emphatic that the government has directed individuals ‘’to prepare and obtain guns to defend themselves against the Bandits as the state government has directed Ayuba Elkanah, the state Commissioner of Police to issue license to all those who are qualified and are wishing to obtain the guns to defend themselves. He disclosed that that the Matawale led APC, government has already concluded arrangements to distribute 500 forms to each of the Emirates in the state for those willing to obtain the guns.
The aggrieved Commissioner was said to have asked those who are qualified and willing to obtain gun licenses after satisfying the necessary criteria to meet the police Commissioner to obtain the gun license. The Nigerian President returned to the country from Rwanda on Sunday, June 27, 2022. There are fears that he may issue a Counter –order to avoid turning Nigeria into another US, where individuals are free to bear arms in self- defense.
Barely 24 hours after issuing the Executive orders for individuals to defend themselves, residents of Mada district under Gusau local government area were said to have fled their homes following fresh attacks by the Bandits. The latest attacks on the Mada and surrounding villages was said to have started on Thursday, June 24, 2022, when the Bandits killed one Vigilante and abducted seven people.
The problem of Banditry in the state was said to have erupted in the state during the Administration of former governor Abdulaziz Yari, in 2011, now a Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria. The then President Goodluck Jonathan could not address Banditry in the state as the country was faced the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram terrorists which have entered the north east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe until they gained route in the state and started exporting Banditry to other states across the country.
Governor Matawalle advice to the people of Zamfara state is not new.Theophilous Danjuma, a retired Army General and former minister of Defence during Olusegun Obasanjo Administration , may have known that the country may soon get to the level where the Bandits would be uncontrollable that he had called Nigerians in 2018 ‘’ to rise and against ethnic cleansing’’.
He fears that the unnecessary killings which is a target of ethnic cleansing on the people of Taraba and Nigeria at large must stop if Nigerians defend themselves against the killers.
Recall that in March 2022, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue had reiterated his call on the people of the state ‘to rise and defend themselves and defend themselves from the armed herdsmen and their Bandits collaborators bent on taking over their Land.
. In making it official by the Zamfara state government for individuals to obtain fire arms to defend themselves against the Bandits after satisfying the necessary conditions, there are fears that other north west states of Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina and the north central states of Niger and Benue may take a cue.
Many believe that what the Bandits are doing in Nigeria is nor new because he US government had repeatedly warned that ‘’ Al- Qaeda, ISIS and other Islamic terror groups in the Sahel region are now trying to take over parts of the African Continent most populous nation, Nigeria’’, but the Nigerian government may have seen it as a Western propaganda .
Human Rights Groups, which had initially condemned the Nigerian government for deploying troops to deal with the terrorists have now come to the reality that the militants are the killer gang , forcing it to describe what is happening in Nigeria is genocide.
For years , the main terror group in the country was BooHaram which seeks to overthrow the government here and create and Islamic state. They are said to be after Christians and moderate moslems. According to Major General Anderon , they push a hardline muslin agenda.It is their intention to establish a caliphate and just rid all of Nigeria and West Africa of any Western influence whatsever. Now there is a. new actor in the scene. Nigeria’s middle-belt region where the muslin north meets the Christian south, a terror group made up of muslim Fulani herdersmen are said to be killing thousands of Christians. More than 1,400 Christians were said to have been hacked to death in just the first seven months of 220 alone by the herders.
The US government worry was that that the Katsina state state born Nigerian President has so far done very little to stop the bloodshed. Biden’s government belives that there is no much Buhari could have done to stop the killings in various parts of the country in the present circumstances because his police and army are also mostly made up of muslims.
