Bandits and amnesty

By Adegbenro Adebanjo

All through February before they Struck at dawn on Friday 26 , everybody thought Zamfara had seen the end of Banditry.This is because the amnesty declared and pursued by Governor Bello Matawalle has witnessed the renunciation of Banditry by different groups and surrendering of huge cache of arms and ammunition.

Indeed one of the the dreaded groups led by the son of a notorious bandit leader in Zamfara State, Muhammad Sani Zakwi, surrendered 30 AK-47s, two GPRG rifles, two rocket launchers and a large cache of ammunition to the Zamfara State government.
Zakwi, just a day before the raid of Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe where 300 girls were abducted by an armed group , assured that Banditry would come to an end .

Hear him ,” I swear in the name of the holy Almighty God, that I will never either kill, kidnap or disturb the peace of innocent citizens of Zamfara State and even beyond again. I want to live as a law-abiding and peace-loving
We finally resolved to surrender and join the society for normal living and peace to reign as a result of reconciliation and dialogue.I citizen.

I want to assure the innocent people of Zamfara State that, a large number of bandits still living in the forest are willing to embrace peace as we were all made to understand that, administration of Governor Matawalle does not mean to trap and harm us, but rather meant to restore peace in the state.”
Governor Bello Matawalle was taken in by the assurance , he reiterated his promise o those who had earlier renounced Banditry that they would not be stigmatized and would be helped to reintegrate into the society.

Some hours after the event at the Government House ,Gusau , another branch / faction of the bandits struck at Jangebe abducting over 300 girls and making nonsense of the plea of Zakwi.

-Adegbenro Adebanjo is a journalist, public relations expert  and public affairs analyst.