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From John Adams, Minna
After over five years of massacre, rape, kidnapping, cattle rustling and wanton destruction of lives and properties by bandits and terrorists in Niger State, peace is gradually returning to the affected communities as over the 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are beginning to return to their homes.
For the past three months, there has been an atmosphere of peace as the people now heave a sigh of relief with both farming and commercial activities gradually picking up across the over 500 communities in the eight local government areas hitherto under siege by bandits and other criminal elements in the state.
For five years, anarchy was loosed upon the innocent people of these communities. The people lost everything they had laboured for and were forced to relocate from their ancestral homes and became refugees in their own land.
Those who managed to escape from the bandits found safe haven with their relations and promised never to return.
Women were turned widows, men became widowers, children turned orphans, women were raped in front of their husbands and families were forced to separate in search of safe abode as gunmen unleashed terror on the people with impunity.
An estimated 200 communities in the eight affected wards of Shiroro, 60 communities in Rafi, 54 communities in Munya, 15 communities in Paikoro, 12 communities in Mariga, and a number of communities in Kontagora, Rijau, Mashegun and Wushishi local government areas all lost their peace and could not sleep with their two eyes closed.
These communities remained “no-go areas” until three months ago, as the majority of them were under the control of bandits with attendant loss of human and material resources on a daily basis. According to the state commissioner for internal security, Mr. Emmanuel Umar, all government resources were channelled to tackling the security challenges, to the detriment of other sectors, yet the situation persisted.
What started like mere criminal activities in 2015 metamorphosed into a full-blown war against the unarmed people. Despite several measures, including peace agreements entered into with various bandit groups by the affected communities, the bandits sustained their attacks with no week passing without a major attack on the people.
They sold all their earnings from farm produce to pay ransom or levies to thee bandits who made life meaningless to them. Yet, the killings continued with reckless abandon.
At the last count in April, the estimated number of IDPs taking refuge in about six centres across the state stood at 100,000, though the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) said it had lost count of the number of IDPs.
The director-general of the agency, Ibrahim Inga, told our correspondent that the number continued to fluctuate and, therefore, they could not give accurate figures of those displaced from their homes.
Aside from the civilian casualties in the last five years, a number of security agents paid the supreme price, trying to protect these communities against the invaders.
The killing of 11 soldiers and 17 mobile policemen on March 26, 2020, in Erena in circumstances that remain unclear till today with different accounts of what happened was one of the unfortunate incidents arising from banditry in the state.
However, the attack on men of the Joint Security Task Force at Galadiman Kogo by over 50 gunmen on Saturday, January 29 this year, left no fewer than seven of its top commanders killed, including four members of the local vigilance group providing support to the security task force.
Another attack that shook the entire state, including the military, was the killing of 34 soldiers, eight mobile policemen and a number of local vigilantes by gunmen at a mining site in Agata Aboki, Erena ward of Shiroro LGA of the state.
This massacre forced the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, to order the immediate suspension of all mining activities in the state.
However, if the current security situation in the state in the last three months is anything to go by, then it could be said that peace has returned as the hitherto no-go areas now enjoy unhindered movement.
Farming and commercial activities have returned, as attested to by members of the affected communities visited who spoke to our correspondent.
Alhaji Ahmed Guni, from Guni community, one of the most troubled communities in Munya LGA, told our correspondent that almost all the people that fled the bandits’ onslaught have returned home and life has returned to normalcy.
He said: “We thank God that everything is now back to normal; we have not recorded any attack in the last three months. Our people have started going to their farms without any molestation and commercial activities are now going on normally.
“We pray that the government will continue to help us so that the peace we are enjoying now will be a permanent one. The presence of security agents have further given us confidence.”
Though some communities are still skeptical and live in fear after returning home, they pray that the return of peace to their communities will be permanent, as their experiences in the hands of the criminals have opened their eyes.
Speaking in this same vein, 65-year- old Mallam Matthew Kabulu from Galape in Erena Ward of Shiroro, whose eight daughters were kidnapped by bandits and spent 11 months in captivity before their eventual release after the payment of N12million ransom, said he was yet to get over the trauma he went through as a result of the incident. Though he attested to the return of peace to the community, the memory of January 2020, will forever remain with him, saying: “My family was the target of the bandits that night because they came straight to my house, abducted my daughters and left.
“No other house was attacked by the bandits that night. I sold everything I had laboured for to be able to pay the N12m ransom, after holding my children for 11 months with serious abuse. But I thank God that they came back alive.
“I pray that we do not experience this again; there is nothing like living in peace in your ancestral home. We don’t have anything to do apart from farming. So we have returned to our community to continue farming.”
Although he disclosed that he and his wife are back in the community, he insisted that his daughters will never go back to the community again until they get married. He said: “No matter the level of peace in the community, my children will not come back here again until they get married.”
But Mallam Abila Gomna, a 75-year-old farmer from Gofa community in Shiroro local government whose six children and two others, all male, had their hands tied behind and shot at close rage in his presence in his farm by bandits, is yet to agree that the peace that has returned to the community will be permanent.
Mallam Gomna, who could not hold back his tears over the brutal killing of his children, while speaking to our correspondent, said though there is peace in the community now, it will take years for the people to over come the shock, the trauma and the destruction caused by these criminals.
He said: “I lost everything, including my children, who usually assisted me in farming because I am old now and I can longer farm by my self. My late children were the ones helping me in the farm but they have all being killed by the bandits. I have only three girls left and they are in their husbands’ houses.
“The destruction was too much and it will take time for us to overcome the trauma, the shock and the pains of the past five years. We thank God for the gradual return of peace but life can never be the same again. We are now starting all over, but we believe that if there is life, there is hope.”
However, in Mariga local government area, the head of the local vigilantes, Mallam Hashimu Mohammed, told our correspondent that though there is peace in the area now, there are one or two incidences of attacks on communities which bordered Kebbi and Zamfara states, as the bandits occasionally attacked farmers in these border villages.
He nonetheless attributed the relative peace in the area largely to the presence of the security agents. According to him, “there is peace now in Mariga here but sometimes the bandits still attack some villages which shared borders with Kebbi and Zamfara states. They come from these states to attack our people occasionally.”
The state commissioner for internal security, Emmanuel Umar, said many factors are responsible for the gradual return of peace to the state.
While acknowledging the intervention of God through continued prayers, he pointed out that government’s tireless efforts towards addressing the security challenges bedeviling parts of the state is beginning to yield results.
He said: “There has been relative peace right now in the state, a great improvements, especially in areas where the activities of these criminals had been quite disturbing. I must say that this could be attributed to a number of factors.
“One, we must thank God for answering our prayers concerning these criminal elements; God has been so merciful to us as a state. Two, and most important, we must commend the governor for his resilient and tireless efforts towards addressing the security challenges and restoring peace in the state.
“He has demonstrated that it is not only by talking but real actions when the need arises. He has never shied away from that responsibility by way of putting every effort into it, including engaging the federal government for assistance in the area of deployment of the military and other security agencies to the troubled parts of the state.
“Again, to show how serious and committed the governor is to the security challenges in the state, he created the ministry for internal security, which by the grace of God, I am the pioneer commissioner. The ministry has enjoyed full and adequate attention to be able to address the challenges at hand.
“Above all, there has been great cooperation and synergy among all the security agencies in the state towards winning the war against these bandits and terrorists that have changed the lifestyle of our people. Prior to this time, there were suspicions, lack of cooperation and complete lack of synergy between the security agents, which was a major problem but when I came on board, we quickly addressed that and today both the military, police, the civil defense, the DSS and even the unconventional security outfits like the local vigilantes are all working together to achieve a common result.”
He pointed that though enormous resources have gone into ensuring that peace returns to the state for businesses and peaceful coexistence among the people, no amount of resources expended in securing the lives and property of the citizens is a waste because there can be no development without security.
He added: “I don’t want to talk about naira and kobo, but honestly it is mind blowing, enormous resources have gone into tackling the security challenges in the state to be able to achieved the peace we have right now. I see huge sums of money that should have been used to develop some sectors like education, roads, health, agriculture and the rest, being spent only on security.
“However, I must admit that there is no amount of money that you will spend to protect lives and property that is a waste, that is the essence of governance, it is the primary responsibility of any government and this government has not failed in that aspect. We are grateful that we have a governor that understands that and see things from that perceptive.”
The commissioner assured the people that the government will sustain the current momentum to ensure absolute peace in the affected communities, stressing that the government has put in place a number of measures to ensure that the people never witnessed the horrors of the past five years.
“The measures are already there. I cannot disclose the strategies put in place for security reasons, but I can assure the people that the government will sustain these achievements. There will be no room for them anymore, the security agents are on top of the situation and we, as a government, will continue to do our best.
“Again, the people are also coming out to say, look we can no longer fold our hands and watch some criminals terrorizing our peace. So, they are equally taking the battle to these bandits in synergy with our security agents.
“Most important, we now have a robust communication and synergy with our neighboring states and this will equally help us. We must collectively deal with these criminals regardless of where they operate, whether in Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi or FCT. A criminal is a criminal and they must be treated according to the law of the land.”
Also speaking, the immediate past commissioner of police, Mr. Monday Kuryas, acknowledged that though there is relative peace in the troubled parts of the state, the police and sister security agencies will not relent until the entire state is 100 percent safe for business and other activities.
He, however, believes that for the police to effectively combat crimes, especially banditry and terrorism in the country, the Federal Government must do more in the area of equipment.
The former commissioner of police said the force lack basic equipment such as Armored Personnel Carrier (APCs), bullets proof vests, operational vehicles, helmets, long and short range tear gas and other anti riot equipment, which had hindered the performance of its constitutional role optimally.
He nonetheless pointed out that despite the numerous challenges facing the force, the Niger State command, under his watch in the last one year, made some remarkable achievements in the area of crime fighting.
He said on assumption of duty in August 2021 as the Niger State commissioner of police, about seven local government areas of the state were under the control of armed bandits and terrorists. But, according to him, “today you will agree with me that there is relative peace in the state.”
While acknowledging the contributions of other security agencies through synergy to the relative peace in the state, the former police boss admitted that “it is not yet over as our deployments are still on ground with the collaborative efforts of the military through the air components and ground troops.”
