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By Nasir Kura
Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state said Tuesday that dialogue with bandits terrorising communities in the state and neighbouring Kaduna and Katsina states would not yield fruitful results because they are deceitful.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor said he made three attempts to get the bandits to embrace dialogue but to no avail.
The governor said he would be deceived into engaging the bandits on dialogue because they are not sincere with government in its effort to find lasting solution to the security challenge problem.
“I have told my people that that will no longer take place during my time. Because, I have done that three times but it did not work. This is in the sense that we know their capacity. For instance, during the first dialogue, they invited some of our teams, army, DSS, police and my chief security officer as well as some representatives of traditional rulers and we have seen what they have.
“They are in control of the kind of weapons that the Command in Zamfara State does not have. In one armory alone, they have over 500 AK47, we saw it. Our people were even given chance to take pictures. But when we said we will dialogue, offer amnesty, that they should surrender their arms, I can tell you till date we did not get up to 90 AK47, so it is a deceit. That is why I said no more dialogue during my tenure.
“During dry season they will look for dialogue because they know the security can get access to anywhere in the forest and they have no place to hide. But when the rainy season comes and the forest becomes thicker, they will return to their normal practice. That is why I said there has to be show of force before anything else. I know that in any war, eventually you have to come to the table and dialogue but the situation we are right now sincerely speaking, dialogue is not needed at this point in time,” he said.
The governor said the only viable option to deal with the bandits in Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina states is the use of force and new strategies.
“It’s a regional problem because, we are surrounded by forests. We have Kuyambana to Rugu down to Maradi Republic. The bandits are taking advantage of the fact that we are living like an Island because we are surrounded by forests. From Sokoto we have Basuguma forest, in Kaduna, Birnin Gwari, Niger, we have Kuyambana Dansado forest there, in Katsina, we have Rugu and at South East of Zamfara where we have Maradi, we have forest there.
“So as the governor of Katsina said, we have to collaborate. I know our security chiefs meet quarterly to review their performance, the gain and the loss, the same thing goes for our brothers in Maladi. I think the operations need to be carried out simultaneously because the issue is we are surrounded by forest. The point is, when Katsina puts pressure on the bandits they will run into the forest in Zamfara, if Zamfara puts pressure on them, they to move to Minna or Birnin Gwari. So this is the issue, so there is need for collaboration.
“So the soldiers need to be equipped with the equipment that can stand the test of time. Yesterday (Monday), when we were having our security meeting, we could understand the constraints of the security personnel that are on ground there. We are definitely going to collaborate, especially since I am running on the last lap of my full tenure, I will ensure that in these months that is left, we will leave behind a peaceful state for the new administration that is coming in,” he said.
