Global Journal of Human Social Science, F: Political Science, Volume 22 Issue 5

An Overview of Armed Banditry in Northern Nigeria: A Case Study of Zamfara State Babajo Hannatu Abstract - The paper examines armed banditry in Zamfara state. It also makes critical appraisal of the factors that led to the collapse of the peace deal entered in to between Zamfara state government and armed bandits. It also provides a historical background to the crises and incidences of armed banditry in zamfara state since 2011. The paper applies research methodology using secondary sources of data to enable the researcher capture facts from existing literatures. The researcher employs the use of Queer Ladder economic theory upon which the research is based on. The queer Ladder theory postulated by an American sociologist, Daniel Bell (1965), who coined that the functional significance of organized crime is as a desperate tactic for socio-economic empowerment and social climbing. The paper points out causes of armed banditry in Zamfara State to be Poverty, Illiteracy, and Unemployment, High quest of political power by the elites and under development of rural areas. The paper concludes that armed banditry in Zamfara State was as a result of the quest for economic satisfaction and social empowerment looking at the range of causes of this crimes as postulated by Bell’s Queer Ladder theory.The paper also posits that banditry constitutes a serious threat to Nigeria’s public safety and, by extension, national security. The paper recommends, among other things, that Government need to extend the provision of social amenities to key rural communities so that people in the rural communities can feel a sense of belonging. Government at all levels should come up with credible and implementable people-oriented policies and programmes to address the basic livelihood problems of poverty, unemployment and the likes. Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) approach to policing which means police and civilian task force should work hand in hand as a means of addressing the rising prevalence of banditry in Zamfara State. I. I ntroduction ne of the most heart-warming issue that characterizes human living in Zamfara state since after the conduct of the 2011 general elections is the unending conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and Hausa rural settlers especially those residing along Dansadau, Zurmi, Shinkafi, Anka, Maradun and Tsafe forest. This conflict which up till now has not been clearly defined Either by the government or people of the state started like a mere conflict of interest but later turned to bloody crises which led to the death of over 2000 lives. As argued by Kiruwa (2017) over five thousand lives have been lost to the crises since it started in early 2011 and despite interventions of the government and its agencies has not achieved any attempt to end the conflict. The tragedy which caused Zamfara state bad name among comity of other states in Nigeria, is considered as one of the most critical challenge that threaten the peace of the state. While hundreds of innocent people are living Zamfara State due to the fear of these armed bandits, hundreds of them continue to take advantage of the situation to rustle more cattle and other ruminant animals. From 2011 to date not fewer than 15,000 cattle were rustled by these suspected armed bandits living away the owners to survive in a state of uncertainty Daniya (2017 in Anka, 2017). In terms of destruction of lives and properties, not fewer than 36 communities along Dansadau, Zurmi, Shinkafi, Tsafe, Bakura and Maradun towns were burnt to the ground with their residents forcefully asked to migrate to alternative safer places Tukur (2017 in Anka 2017). Despites effort by both the Federal and State Governments to curtail this ugly situation through the use of cohesive measures, the killings and brutality continue to take new dimension as the bandits continue to come with some new strategies of perpetrating their heinous acts. It was difficult for the security agencies to fight along the forest as the bandits understand the terrain more than the security agencies. Former Zamfara State Commissioner of Police Akila Usman Gwary once told NTA News that, security agencies in Zamfara state especially police and army are finding it difficult to fight the armed bandits along Dansadau-Birnin Gwari forest because, there is no access road in trying to reach out to these villages whenever there is report of attack and communication by even the security agencies operating along the forest was virtually impossible NTA (2014). To alternatively manage the situation, the idea of peace deal and amnesty was initiated between the State government and the leadership of these armed bandits. The peace deal was initiated to enable the armed bandits surrender their weapons and embrace peace. Tangaza (2017) reported that, we have reviewed the impacts of the cohesive measures especially the use of the military and mobile police men and come to the conclusion that, the operation has not yielded the much needed result in spite of huge sum of money spent by the government and we opted for negotiation with the bandits as the best option to ensuring sustainable peace The peace deal has however being described as failure especially with the resurgence of the fresh killings O © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue V Version I 15 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 F Author: School of Geography – Garstang Building, University of Leeds, United Kingdom. e-mail: hannatubabajohh@gmail.com