The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Aminu Masari

  • Negotiation with bandits yielding results — Masari

    GOVERNOR Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Saturday replied critics who objected to his recent negotiation with bandits troubling the state, and said it was in the overall best interest of Katsina and other neighbouring states in the Northwest.

    He said the negotiation has now brought relative peace to the State with over 80% of people in captivity released.

    According to him, the next stage of peace restoration is the disarming of bandits and their commanders in the forests which border Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi and Niger states.

    The governor also shed light on the controversial RUGA scheme.

    He claimed that RUGA is not a Hausa-Fulani or Arabic word but the abbreviation of Rural Grazing Area used by the colonial masters.

    He said there is no alternative to RUGA if there must be an end to farmer-herder clashes.

    Masari spoke exclusively to The Nation.

    “The negotiation is yielding results,” he said of talks between him and the bandits.

    “Now I can say over 80% of people under captivity in Katsina State have been released. So, in terms of group kidnapping I can only remember that right now only 13 people that we are searching for.  We have only 13 people,

    “But in terms of massive attacks since we started, there was no single massive attack on any village or any community. By my account, about 57 people have been released by them, most of them women and young children. Among them even are nationals of Niger Republic.

    “So, for us it has brought relative peace. The next step is the issue of disarming the bandits and commanders in the forest that command 200, 300, 400 fighters, fully armed on motorbikes.

    “That’s how they operate and attack the villages. In most cases they go three to one on a motorcycle. They’ve reinforced their motorcycles and they are using tubeless tyres. They put something inside so that their tyres do not get punctured or breakdown.”

    Masari said the government will soon start reconciling released bandits with their neighbours for sustainable peace.

    Read Also: Dialogue: Masari frees six arrested bandits

    “They are ready to disarm but the first stage is about  the release of some of them that were not even convicted or even charged to court and by the time they release  all those people under their captivity, we will start reconciliation between them and their neighbours.

    “And then those in the forest. We’ll start talking about because if they keep the guns and other ammunition with them, they’ll eventually fight among themselves,” he added.

    Asked what accounted for banditry in the North-West, the governor quipped: “Lack of education. Failure of leadership for a very long time.”

    He said: “The first generation of Nigerian leaders, together with the colonialists created what we now call RUGA. RUGA is not a Fulani word, it is not a Hausa word, it is not an Arabic word, and it’s the English abbreviation for Rural Grazing Area.

    “So they had foresight, they knew that this roaming about by cattle would  not last so they created these rural grazing areas and brought Fulani,  provided windmill farms  and dams for water. All over the places, if you go to our area you’ll see the remnant of all these.

    “For us in Katsina, they created the dairy, and they were planting grass to feed cows even 40-50 years ago because they knew.

    “But subsequently after the discovery of oil, our leaders abandoned all these initiatives.

    “Then heavy encroachment due to population surge. Now,  we have climate change, which is  also adding its own weight”.

    Masari gave insights into why he negotiated with the bandits with peace in Katsina and other states as his ultimate goal.

    He said: “In 2016, we started amnesty programme for the bandits. That programme was officially launched in 2017. As a result of that, over 400 AK 47 and other assorted arms and ammunition were surrendered by then cattle rustlers and over 36,000 were returned to the owners apart from ruminants, donkeys, camels and horses.

    “It was a very successful programme and it lasted for about two years but because there was no similar programme in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger states (that share borders with Kastina), our people became vulnerable. The forest area is contiguous to Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi and Niger. In fact, Katsina has the least of the forest areas when you compare all these four states.

    “So gradually all our leaders were killed by bandits from Zamfara and nothing of a similar nature was going on in Zamfara. The banditry escalated and affected Katsina. It diluted and destroyed what we had built.

    “Part of the arrangement we had with the herders was the construction of schools and clinics and immediately we moved in, we constructed 10 primary schools and 10 clinics. We have spent over N100 million to demarcate the cattle routes across the state. We established a permanent committee headed by a former director from the Ministry of Agriculture, who was a livestock specialist to demarcate the cattle routes, those for grazing and those for traveling.

    “All these things that we have done were severely affected by the spate of violence and this time it came with kidnapping, banditry, rape and so many forms of criminality that were not there in 2017.

    “We also realized that these are same people, neighbours killing neighbours, stealing from neighbours. Even the herder communities in the forest were not left out they were stealing among themselves, killing among themselves. And then in the towns, we have what we call volunteers who are not even vigilantes. These volunteers went about killing any Fulani man or Fulani woman they saw.

    When the new governor of Zamfara State came, he disbanded the 500 vigilantes in all the local governments, and declared that he’s willing to talk.

    “We said now we have a partner in Zamfara. When they started the amnesty in Zamfara, we also joined and engaged.

    “The bandits in Zamfara are the ones in Katsina, because from Kastina and Zamfara, you cannot even tell the difference.

    “All the camps except one, the bases of the bandits, are in Zamfara forest. So you can see the need. They said okay since they are the same people, instead of killing, let us engage them.

    “The Inspector-General of Police was in Katsina, all the Northwest governors were there, even the governor of Niger state was there, the governor of Taraba State was also there, the governor of Plateau State was there. We talked peace, and the bandits were also there except some few of their leaders who were afraid of what we were going to do.

    “From there, we agreed that every state will go and hold a similar meeting with the bandits, Fulani leadership, the farmers, the Ardos, the village heads and the mallams or imams. And this is what we did in Katsina.

  • An appalling bandit culture

    APPEASEMENT. That seems to be the name of the game these days, as bandits operate freely in some parts of the North. Some 10 days ago or so, the Katsina State governor, Aminu Masari, engaged bandits in negotiation to end banditry and their destabilising and disruptive activities in some parts of the state. He probably had no choice. He had cried out repeatedly that his state was under siege, inundated with banditry. And since he did not possess the security apparatus to end or even curb the menace, and because his entreaties to Abuja had also met with qualified failure, he simply damned the unethicalness of negotiating with criminals and proceeded to dialogue with the tormentors of his people. Peace at all costs.

    After all, a few years back, the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, also negotiated with Fulani herdsmen whom he claimed were terrorising parts of his state, and paid them off to fend off further attacks and bloodshed. He was roundly condemned at the time, but he was too set in his ways to care what anyone thought about his methods. No one is sure Mallam el-Rufai’s tactics bore fruit, nor that further attacks had still not been executed by herdsmen who were mostly Fulani. What is important, according to his own confessions, is that he had negotiated with the masterminds of the violence against his state.

    For a few years, Zamfara State also became the poster boy for banditry in the North, nay in Nigeria. Weeks ago, however, the state government engaged the bandits in negotiations, gave them amnesty, and negotiated peace on certain pecuniary conditions. Banditry has since ceased considerably in Zamfara, a fact loudly celebrated by the state’s political elite and the governor. Given the rush to negotiate with bandits everywhere in the North, at least for now, appeasement may be the answer that proves durable in the short run. The negotiating state governments have, however, not been as transparent on the issue as the public would love them to be concerning just how much they have paid the bandits to secure and sustain the tentative peace the affected states are enjoying. The governors are unlikely to declare the cost of peace in the short run, believing that the alternative is far costlier and too gory to contemplate.

    It was telling, more than a week ago, that the Katsina State governor allowed the publication of a photograph he took with an armed bandit leader after negotiation. The gun-wielding bandit was even more tellingly sandwiched between the governor and a military officer. Perhaps the governor merely wished to illustrate what he was doing, in particular his commitment to the peace process, and his altruism. The other symbolism of the photograph — state helplessness — either escaped him and his advisers or they felt it was a far smaller price to pay for peace.

    Indeed, significantly, the bandits boldly told the government that soldiers and policemen, by their unprofessionalism, contributed immensely to the breakdown of peace and upsurge in banditry. According to the negotiating bandits, the unbearable extortionist inclination of law enforcement agents and their repressive and arbitrary methods had a triggering and catalysing effect upon banditry. Said one of the bandit leaders, Idris Yayande, who met and dialogued with the governor last Wednesday: “Soldiers, policemen and other security agencies are fuelling banditry, kidnapping and other heinous crimes through large scale extortion in return for their support to us. We have lost confidence in them. We prefer to work with the local vigilante.”

    According to a report by this newspaper, “The leader of Volunteers (Yan-sakai), Lawal Tsoho, also accused soldiers, policemen, other security agencies and some politicians in the state of working against the ongoing dialogue between the bandits and the state government because they are benefiting from banditry, explaining that he had evidence to prove his statement.” Any wonder the governor chose to negotiate? If law enforcement agents are too busy betraying their oath, as indeed everyone fears, a state governor has precious little elbow room to manoeuvre.

    Overwhelmed by insecurity everywhere, and still shorn of the presence of mind to recognise that lack of security both signposts and presages terrible times ahead, the government has desperately sought to involve sundry militias, some of them ethnic, in policing this vast country. Soldiers can hardly be relied on to get the job done neatly, and policemen are not any better; such a horrifying combination transmogrifies the governing paradigm from one of constitutionality and methodicalness in ruling the nation to one of peace secured at its most ignoble and expedient worst. It will be a mistake to focus on the jarring metaphor of armed bandits openly negotiating with governors and thereafter posing for group photographs, or to use such short-sighted showiness to condemn the state chief executives. The problem of insecurity is a very complex one embedded in how the country is structured and run, in this case by irresponsible and unthinking elites. Until the fundamental problems predisposing the country to anarchy are addressed, the nation will continue to witness short-term panaceas and futile solutions. In fact, these objectionable negotiations, not to say the collaborations between law enforcement and security agencies on the one hand and civilian militias on the other hand, indicate what little time the country has left to rejigger itself before apocalypse.

  • Soldiers, policemen fueling banditry, kidnapping, bandits tell Masari

    REPENTANT bandits on Wednesday told Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari that some soldiers and policemen are fueling banditry and kidnapping in the state in return for monetary gain.

    They warned that unless the security operatives stopped their activities and extortion of money and cattle from them, the situation in the state would not change.

    The bandit groups spoke on Wednesday during a dialogue session with the governor at Gbagegi Primary School, Dankolo in Dandume local government area..

    The repentant bandits who met with the governor were drawn from two of the local government areas in the state – Dandume and Sabuwa – worst affected by banditry.

    The state has been under relentless banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping forcing Governor Masari to initiate the dialogue with bandits.

    Leader of one group of bandits, Idris Yayande ,told the governor that large scale extortion perpetrated by the security operatives had seriously undermined the efforts of government to address  the security challenges.

    He said: ‘Soldiers, policemen and other security agencies are fueling banditry, kidnapping and other heinous crimes through large scale extortion in return for their support to us. We have lost confidence in them. We prefer to work with the local vigilante’’

    Corroborating him, leader of Volunteers (Yan-sakai), Lawal Tsoho, accused soldiers, policemen, other security agencies and some politicians in the state of working against the ongoing dialogue between the bandits and the state government because they are benefiting from banditry. He explained: “I have all evidence to prove my statement”,

    He urged the urged the State to facilitate the release of their members arrested by security agencies and detained in various prisons across the country.

    He said: “Some of our members were apprehended in villages across the state and detained for years without committing offence.”

    Read Also: Buhari hails Masari for progress in Katsina

    Another repentant bandit, Idris Yayande, gave the “names of some of our members arrested and detained in different prisons across the state” and urged the government “to release them before the dialogue.”

    He listed those in detention as: ” Alhaji Lawal Bandu, Ibrahim Nabutamu, Sani Marji, Sani Zafi, Lawal Mairuwa and there are some of our children that were arrested by soldiers in layin-Mahuta last year; Juro, Ali, Adamu, Abdulrahman and since then nobody told us where they are and what happened to them.

    “So, we are pleading with the state government to release them to us. We don’t have anybody in our custody now. We promised before that nobody will farm within this area but because of the dialogue we surrendered. If you hear of any attack it is not from us”.

    Another repentant bandit, Haruna Mazge, blamed the prevailing security problem of the state on farmers “who blocked 70 per cent of the cattle routes”

    “Farmers in the state have blocked all cattle routes. If you look at our problem, consider that of farmers too”, he said.

    Mazge called on other bandits who he said were terrorizing villages in the state to surrender their arms for the sustainability of peace.

    He said: “This forest that we are hiding from is not beyond government’s power. Since the governor has forgiven us, we should not betray government in this dialogue by attacking another village in this state again.”

    Masari assured residents of the state that the dialogue would bring peace to Katsina State, North-West and Nigeria, saying “we believe that we have started well and there is nothing better than peace”.

    The governor restated his commitment to rendering assistance to the Fulani living in the Forest and urged them to embrace dialogue and live peacefully with one another. He promised to rebuild the schools and other decayed infrastructure and address other requests.

  • Insecurity: Police launch aerial battle

    The security situation in the country was again on the front burner on Thursday as the Police commenced deployment of surveillance helicopters in the Southwest and the Northwest.

    Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari, whose state has been under relentless attacks by bandits, on Thursday opened dialogue with them.

    In Abuja, four people were arrested for possession of explosives.

    Police spokesman Frank Mba, in a statement, said Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu ordered the deployment of aerial surveillance helicopters in major cities in the South-West and North-West as part of efforts by the police to effectively curtail crimes in the country.

    He said the Police Air-Wing Operational Base in Abuja would cater for Abuja–Kaduna highways and the adjoining states in the North-West and North-Central.

    The new base in Ondo State would cater for the adjoining states and highways straddling the South-West.

    He enjoined Nigerians not to panic and go about their lawful businesses, adding that the aerial surveillance was to improve the security of lives and property in the affected areas.

    Confirming the recovery of explosives, Federal capital Territory (FCT) Police Command said the four suspects arrested were caught with unauthorized movement of explosive materials.

    The suspects were arrested by a joint team of police operatives from the Command Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit and Nyanya Police Division at the Baba Nagode Motor Park in Nyanya area of Abuja.

    Read Also: Police arrest, detain rape suspect in Kano

    The suspects are Hamisu Abah, Suleiman Hammeed, Onuh Sunday and Agwan Bulus.

    Command Spokesman Anjuguri Manzah, a DSP, said the suspects had been transferred to the Command Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

    Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari  on Thursday engaged representatives of the bandits terrorizing the state in a dialogue to find a permanent solution to incessant attacks and kidnappings in the state

    The meeting, which was held at the State Secretariat, was attended by Deputy Governor Manir Yakubu, heads of security agencies , traditional rulers and districts heads led by the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumin kabir Usman, Secretary to the State Government Alhaji Mustapha Inuwa, Transition Committee Chairmen of the affected eight local Government areas, representatives of Myyeti Allah and the Fulani herdsmen

    It was gathered that the attendance of the representatives of the bandits was made possible by the recent amnesty declared for the bandits by the Northwest governors at a recent meeting

    Masari, who spoke in Hausa, warned that the insecurity rocking the affected areas in the state had become embarrassing to both the state government and President Buhari who hails from the state.

    He further restated the commitment of his government to deploy whatever is necessary to deal decisively with banditry and Kidnapping in the state.

    He said: ’’We are ready to dialogue with the bandits and are ready to go anywhere they invited us, because we are not afraid to meet anybody to end this problem

    ‘’As a leader, I must find the solution to the problem so that if today I die, I  know how to defend myself before God I will not allow this to continue, enough is enough’’

    ‘’ I have directed the security operatives to take all necessary measures to change the narrative on insecurity in the state, by any means necessary’’

  • Bandits are not Muslims, Buhari tells Katsina IDPs

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has sympathised and commiserated with internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in eight local governments of Katsina State, who were displaced by armed banditry.

    The President said the bandits that have been killing people should not claim to be true Muslims.

    Buhari, who visited the victims on Wednesday in Batsari Local Government Area, said they deserved sympathy from the government and other well-meaning Nigerians.

    Buhari was at the camp to sympathise with the victims from Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Jibiya, Sabuwa, Faskari and Dandume local government areas.

    “I am here to sympathise with the entire people of the state over the unfortunate incidents that have been claiming lives of innocent people,” he said.

    Read Also: Reshuffle security architecture, CAN urges Buhari

    “Islam did not give individuals the right to kill others without following due process in the court of law.

    “The Federal and states government will do everything possible to eradicate all forms of insecurity in the nation as soldiers and police have been given all the necessary support by the government.

    “We are doing our best to checkmate the activities of armed bandits and insurgents in the country.”

    Governor Aminu Masari said: “We have assembled some of the victims, and their representative comprising their traditional, religious and community leader before the President.

    “The communities living along the fringes of Rugu Forest across these eight LGAs had to contend with series of recurring incidents of armed bandits,” he said.

    The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, called on the rural people not to hoard information’s about the bandits.

    Kabir advised the rural people to always pass information about the armed bandits to their traditional rulers or the security agencies for action.

    Also on Wednesday, Buhari inaugurated a 32-kilometre Shinkafi-Yandaki-Gafia-Abdallawa-Dankaba road project constructed by the Katsina State Government to boost transportation and alleviate the sufferings of farmers in the state.

    The road project, which was awarded in October 2017 and completed in April this year, is expected to cater to 15 communities in Katsina and Kaita local government areas.

    Buhari described road networks as the major means of transportation in Katsina State.

    He said: “We all know that the economy of Katsina State is agrarian; our wealth is farming and livestock rearing, hence the need to open it up through and across all communities.”

     

  • Police deploy Special Forces to fight kidnappers, bandits in North-West

    The Acting Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu has announced the deployment of Special Forces in the North-West to combat kidnappers and bandits.

    Adamu made the disclosure while addressing members of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) on Wednesday in Katsina.

    He said the forces would attack the bandits in their camps, destroy the camps, arrest them and occupy the camps so that they would not return.

    Adamu solicited vital information about activities of criminals and bandits in their domains to enable the police continue to secure lives and property.

    “The police are ready to meet the bandits and kidnappers in their hideouts in the forests and fight them.

    Read Also: Banditry: Katsina donates 12 vehicles to Police

    “You should assist police with vital information about criminal activities in the society,” he said.

    The police boss said that the force had been able to arrest those who kidnapped Gov. Aminu Masari’s mother-in-law who was kidnapped about a month ago.

    “Nobody will commit crime and go free,” he said.

    Abubakar also urged religious leaders and the public to intensify prayers to enable the police succeed in the fight against criminal acts in the country.

    He said that such would assist the police in continuing to secure lives and property across in the country.

    NAN

  • Buhari returns to Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday returned to Abuja after he participated in the Saturday’s Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly election in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential aircraft conveying the president, his wife Aisha Buhari and some of his aides landed the at presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 12.30p.m.

    The president was received at the airport by his Chief of Staff, Malam Abba Kyari, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammed Bello and other presidential aides as well as government officials.

    While in Daura, the president exercised his civic responsibility on March 9 at the polling unit 003, Kofar Baru III (A and B) Daura, Katsina State, where he voted for a governorship candidate and member of the state house of assembly that would represent his constituency, Daura.

    At the end of the exercise on Saturday, President Buhari successfully delivered thepolling unit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the state, Aminu Masari, with 370 votes.

    Read Also: Buhari: I’ll leave legacy of free, fair elections

    On March 10, President Buhari received representatives of community and development associations from Daura Emirate at his private residence in Daura, who came to congratulate him on his re-election.

    The president’s old schoolmates and Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State were also among those that visited the president at his residence in Daura to congratulate him on his re-election for a second term.

    Masari, who was accompanied by prominent citizens of the state including some members of his cabinet, also formally informed President Buhari of his victory at the March 9 governorship election in the state.

    NAN

  • Katsina: APC’s Masari in early lead

    Governor Aminu Masari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has taken early lead in the Saturday governorship election in Katsina state.

    Results have started coming in from the 34 Local Government Areas of the state.

    From the results already collated, the ruling party has burst into early lead by wide margin.

    Results from the LGAs are: Dutsi APC 22482, PDP 10564; in Matazu APC scored 28253, while PDP scored10327. The APC also beat its closest opponent in the polls in Sandamu where it pulled 32193 as against PDP’s 11,912 .

    APC also showed its strength in Kusada where it pulled 20799 to PDP’s 8080.

    Read Also: Why I seek reelection -Masari

    The ruling party also won in Ngawa where it scored 23, 905 and PDP 12, 602.

    In Zango, APC scored 23,148 and PDP 11, 662. In Baure APC scores 41,076 and PDP 18,012.

    In Katsina town, APC polled 64, 709 while PDP scored 16,734. The PDP however won in Rimi Local Government Area wih 12,496 as against APC’s 3,627.

    APC had upper hand in Danmusa Local Government Area of the state scoring 26008 while PDP scored 10306.

    In Mani APC 34259 while PDP 16476 while Jibia APC scored 30, 538 and PDP 12, 616

     

  • Buhari delivers unit to APC Candidates

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday delivered his polling unit 003, Kofar Baru III (A and B) Daura, Katsina State, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the state, Aminu Masari, with 370 votes.

    The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Lado Danmarke, scored 33 votes to come second at the polling unit.

    The result of the State House Assembly at the unit indicated that the APC candidate for the Daura constituency, Nasir Yahaya, got 336 as against 40 votes scored by Lawal Husseini, the PDP candidate.

    NAN reports that the governorship and state house of assembly elections recorded low turn-out of voters when compared to the presidential and national assembly elections held on Feb. 23.

    President Buhari scored 523 votes while his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar of PDP, got three votes and Accord Party scored four votes at the same polling unit 003 during the presidential election on Feb. 23.(NAN)

  • President Buhari arrives Katsina for polls

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday arrived in Katsina en route to Daura, his hometown, to participate in the rescheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.

    The presidential aircraft conveying the president, his wife, Aisha, and some of his aides landed at Umar Musa Yar’Adua International Airport, Katsina, about 3.25p.m.

    The president was received at the airport by Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, members of the National Assembly from Katsina State, heads of Federal Government agencies in the state and other government functionaries.

    The president left the airport in a presidential helicopter for Daura at about 3.50p.m.

    Read Also: Buhari to Nigerians: Vote govt of your choice

    While in Daura, Buhari, the Presidential Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), in Saturday’s elections, is expected to join other eligible voters at Kofar Baru 003 polling unit, Sarkin Yara ward, Daura, Katsina State, to cast his vote.

    Buhari on Feb. 14 rounded off his nationwide campaign in Katsina and later proceeded to Daura for the Feb. 16 Presidential National Assembly elections before it was shifted by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Feb. 23.

    The Governorship, House of Assembly, Federal Capital Territory  Area Council elections were also shifted from March 2 to March 9.

    NAN