KATSINA – Residents in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Katsina have reached a peace agreement with armed bandits, aimed at ending years of violence and insecurity in the region.
As part of the reconciliation, the bandits handed over two AK-47 rifles and admitted to abducting 10 people from Daddara town, in the Jibia Local Government Area, who have now been freed and taken to the General Hospital in Jibia for medical attention.
The peace meeting, held on Friday, February 28, 2025, at Kwari village, was facilitated by the Jibia People’s Forum under the leadership of Alhaji Gide Dahiru, a security analyst and counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad area, Zagazola Makama made this known on Monday.
Makama noted that community leaders, including the Chairman of the Jibia Business Association, Alhaji Sama’ila Mai Maasara, and elder statesman Alhaji Haruna Sada Zare, attended the reconciliation talks.
According to Makama, Sheikh Barrister Ibrahim Sabi’u, a former secretary of the Islamic Justice Commission and a judge at the Katsina State Court of Reconciliation, emphasised that the negotiations were conducted under Islamic law to ensure lasting peace.
Notorious bandit leaders Audu Lankai and Tukur Nigerian were among those engaged in the peace process, Hikaya Newspaper reported.
However, as part of the agreement, residents demanded an immediate cessation of attacks on Jibia town and its surrounding communities, protection for farmers, and an end to cattle rustling.
Meanwhile, the bandits, in turn, pledged to respect government laws and cease cattle rustling and other criminal activities.
Zagazola added that Alhaji Babangida Bracket, a resident of Daddara, confirmed the release of the abducted victims, marking a potential turning point in efforts to restore security in Katsina State.
INSECURITY AND VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
For more than a decade, civilians in Nigeria have faced multiple security threats and risk of atrocities as result of attacks, kidnappings and extortion by various non-state armed groups.
Armed groups and gangs, including so-called “bandits,” have – for many years – perpetrated widespread atrocities, including murder, rape, kidnapping, organized cattle-rustling and plunder. Armed herdsmen are also destroying vast swaths of farmland, prompting many farmers to abandon their land out of fear of attack.
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