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Short-Lived Peace

Pays
Nigéria
Sources
Nextier SPD
Date de publication
Origine
Voir l'original

There seem to be a re-emergence of banditry in Nigeria’s northwest region. In the past few weeks, several communities have been ransacked, and human lives lost in a series of unrestrained attacks by bandits. For instance, in Katsina alone, over 50 persons have been killed by bandits since the beginning of May. Incidence report from other northwestern states affirms an almost similar high number of casualties. The question would be, how long will innocent citizens be at the mercy of bandits.

In the past year, northwestern states of Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Niger grew to become the hotbed of armed banditry with numerous cases of bandits’ attacks. The ferocity and frequency of the attacks led to the haphazard sets of amnesty deals independently implemented by the affected states. Though the peace deals ensured momentous peace as there was a drastic reduction in the report of attacks. However, recent events are suggesting a short-lived peace. What factors are responsible for this?

In Amnesty for Bandits, Nextier SPD suggests, that the different amnesty programmes may have side-stepped the inherent factors fueling the incessant carnage in the region. For instance, the age-long Hausa-Fulani dichotomy, debacle between farmers and herders, inter-communal disputes, and poverty. Amnesty programmes may ensure peace, but without formidable policy action, the factors which led to the era of terror will always remain. Amnesty programmes are reactionary measures to achieve peace, but the bulk of the work will be to address the root cause of the conflict. For instance, the 2009 Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for ex-militants of Niger Delta extraction may have achieved relative peace in the area, but it is only so mainly because of the stipends paid to the ex-militants by government and the fact that government has agreed to address the causes of the militancy.

Most conflict issues are resource-driven – farmers-herders debacle over land and pasture, Niger-Delta militancy majorly over the impact of oil exploration activities in the region, amongst others. Illegal mining in Northwest Nigeria potentially remains a contributive factor to the violent banditry. According to findings, gold deposits in the area are creating new centres of power struggle, as armed groups compete over gold mines. In April 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria banned mining activities in Zamfara state due to its connection to the massive deaths recorded in the state. However, escalation of the armed competition has been attributed to insufficient government regulation of mining activities in the country. The unchecked mining activities contribute to the constant and successful raids by criminal gangs who have become law enforcers in the region.

The Nigerian government should work towards a tight regulation of mining activities in the country. Losses to illegal mining in Nigeria could supplement the overdependence on crude oil exploration activities. About 80 per cent of revenue that would have been accrued from the solid minerals sector is being lost to illegal mining. From a report, between 2014 to 2015 the nation lost $9 billion to the illegal mining of gold and other mineral resources. State governments in the region should work together to achieve a holistic amnesty package and policy actions that seek to address the numerous factors sustaining the daily carnage in the region. The law-abiding citizens of the northwest region deserve to live in peace.