National President, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Ngelzarma, tells BIODUN BUSARI about the recent attack by bandits on a state leader, and the farmer-herder clash, among other issues...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
The MACBAN Chairman in Katsina State, Surajo Ahmed, was killed by bandits, while they abducted his wives and daughter. How did it happen?I got a call early morning on Saturday from my officials in Katsina State. They told me that the chairman was assassinated in his house, in Maerana village, Kusada Local Government Area of Katsina State. It happened on Friday night around 10.30pm. On Saturday morning, he was buried according to Islamic rites.
So, on getting there, I was told how the whole thing happened. Gunmen attacked him in his house. They took away two of his wives and daughter. Later, they (bandits) saw him coming out of the house and shot him. They shot him in the head. Currently, they are holding his wives and a daughter captive. That was the information I got from my representative in Katsina State on Saturday morning.
Have the bandits demanded any ransom for his two wives and daughter?
Well, up till now, not to my knowledge. There was someone who told me he called the line of the deceased, and some people took the line and told him that they had taken away the wives and the daughter of the owner of the phone. When they were telling him this, they didn’t even know he was dead.
So, they were telling this man that the husband would contact them for negotiations. They didn’t know that he had been killed by the bullet that they fired at him. But that was somebody who said he called the number of the deceased to confirm this story, only for the bandits to take the phone and answer him.
That means the bandits went with the phone of the deceased.
Yes. They went with the phone of the deceased. But with the information in the news and everywhere, they would have known by now that he (Ahmed) was dead.
Does it mean the bandits didn’t intend to kill him?
No, I think he was trying to escape. So, they shot him while he was running. I think they also left, thinking that maybe the bullet didn’t get him. I don’t know. But that was on the morning of the incident. But now that the information is everywhere, they must have known that he was killed already.
How often do these bandits attack your members?
I will say this happens from time to time. In the same Katsina, in June 2002, the chairman who served the state for eight years, as the branch chairman, who later contested an election with me and won as the national vice president 1 went missing. He went missing on his way from Zaria to Kaduna and for almost 20 months now, we don’t know his whereabouts.
After two days, his vehicle was discovered in Marabara town, parked with all his cell phones and other valuables. Nothing was tampered with. But since then, we have not heard anything from him. We don’t know his whereabouts, whether he’s dead or alive, up till now that we speak. He also hailed from Katsina.
He was my deputy. His name was Munnir Atiku Lamido. These things do happen from time to time. Even in Kogi, we lost about three of our leaders. We lost one vice chairman and two chairmen in the last four years. About three years ago, a chairman was also assassinated. He was killed by gunmen in a village in Nasarawa State.
As you just revealed that these criminals have been targeting the leaders of your group, what do you think is causing this?
Bandits and criminals are going after our leaders, maybe because we report and expose them. I think this might be the reason. Well, this is the mystery we want to find out. We don’t know why. We don’t know who is behind these things. We know that the incident that took place recently on Saturday was perpetrated by bandits. They have taken away the two wives and the daughter. We now clearly know they are bandits, but we don’t know why they attacked.
The incident that happened in Nasarawa State, we don’t know why he was killed but the one in Lokoja, the first one was killed, because he went and brought in vigilantes to fight criminality in Kogi State. So, his offence was that he brought in vigilantes to fight the criminals. So, he was kidnapped. Even after the payment of the N3m ransom, he was not released. He was killed and buried in the forest. Up till now, nobody has seen his dead body.
On the second incident in Kogi State, I think, he reported the activities of some cattle rustlers to the police. So, that resulted in his killing. He was followed to his residence in Lokoja town in Kogi State and assassinated. It happened about four years ago.
So, these are the happenings, but for the rest, it still remains a mystery. We don’t know what happened to the vice president and the Nasarawa State MACBAN chairman; we don’t know who was behind the assassination. But for the two in Kogi, we know the genesis.
You mentioned that a leader was killed for reporting the activities of cattle rustlers. Do these bandits also engage in cattle rustling?
We don’t know those behind cattle rustling; maybe it’s the same group. Maybe there are two different groups doing kidnapping, banditry, and cattle rustling. But mostly, those who are kidnapping people are also involved in cattle rustling which is not far from banditry.
These bandits also come from particular families in communities. Are you saying your members and other people don’t have any hint about their operations before they attack?
Criminality is not written on the faces of people. Now, if your neighbour is a criminal, you may not know. If your neighbour is a bandit, drug pusher, or any other criminal, can you know? Until something happens that exposes him, the man is not a criminal. It’s not written on people’s faces. Who knows whether they live in the town or live in the forest? We don’t know, but all we know is that there are gangs of bandits in the forest.
Are they living in the forest? We cannot say. We assume sometimes that they come to the town as well. So, these are the things that nobody will know. It is only those who are in their circle that will know about their movement. If you are not one of them, how can you know if they live in the town or the forest? Nobody will know about these things.
Let’s talk about efforts to rescue the family members of the deceased. What have the police done?
I have seen a release made by the police in Katsina State. They came out and spoke about it. Some people were also killed alongside the chairman, but I didn’t know about that until I read in the news, according to the information given by the police. I understood that six more people were killed. Maybe the bandits killed some people as they ran away to the outskirts.
But we have directed the MACBAN secretary to formally write a report to the government of Katsina State and copy the police commissioner, and the commandant of civil defence about what happened to our chairman on that fateful day. So, as usual, we wrote to the government and the security agencies concerned informing them about the incident that resulted in the killing of our chairman.
What measures have been taken by the association to prevent this kind of incident?
I have already requested them (MACBAN leaders) to be cautious of their movements and dealings because the situation has been disturbing. We have seen two incidents in the state within about 20 months. One of the leaders is missing and the other was killed just three months ago.
So, there are things we cannot understand because if we know the genesis of this recent one, we don’t know what happened in the case of the first one. So, this is something that will make you jittery wherever you are. We requested our members, especially the leaders themselves, to be cautious of their movements and their dealings.
The herder-farmer crisis persists in the country despite several interventions by the government. What can you say is the real cause?
Considering the dimension the crisis is taking, and going by the sophistication of the criminals, I think there has to be a holistic approach towards solving the issue. This is an issue that was left to linger for quite some time. The issue started in 2014 when issues of cattle rustling started showing its face.
So, when the criminals became sophisticated with cattle rustling, they migrated into kidnapping. Later from kidnapping, banditry also emerged for many reasons. Then there was a formation of vigilantes who were fighting the pastoralists as assumed criminals, and the pastoralists also organised themselves to protect themselves against the aggression of the vigilantes. This type of formation gave rise to banditry because in both groups, criminals infiltrated the vigilantes who were fighting the pastoralists.
Criminals also infiltrated the pastoralist resistance group. So, it became banditry. There were many attacks under the guise of reprisal from both groups. During these attacks, a lot of criminal activities also took place. Each group was attacking, looting, stealing, robbing, maiming, raping, and so forth. So, the dimension it is taking now requires a holistic approach. The kinetic approach by the security agents should be complemented with a non-kinetic approach, where dialogue and many other approaches can be adopted in trying to solve the problem.
But what is important is that as far as we are concerned, there is a need for every sector that is involved, either directly or indirectly with this crisis, to be allowed to define its fear by itself. So, by the time everybody defines his fear, things will come out. Through this, roles will come out clear for all stakeholders to perform in a way that the crisis will come to an end.
What do you mean by stakeholders in this circumstance?
What I mean by stakeholders is when you have farmers on one side, and you have pastoralists on another. You have the vigilantes, you have the traditional rulers, you have the security agencies, and you have the non-governmental organisations, associations like our own, and the rest. All those who are either directly or indirectly affected must be allowed to define their fears in their own way.
By the time you collect all this information, and put them together, you realise roles will come out clear for each of the stakeholders to perform. The traditional rulers or institutions will know the role they are supposed to play in helping to douse tension. The pastoralist groups like our own and the rest will also know the role they are supposed to play, whether it’s that of the association or the rest. The security agencies also will understand their roles very clearly.
So, there has to be a sort of unification of purpose. So, we have to understand the crisis holistically the way it is, and we have to create a single focus for everybody to work towards that focus. When the purpose is unified in one place with the same understanding of the dynamics of the crisis, I’m sure that by the time everybody is allowed to play his role, we’ll come over it.
Do you have any objection to the kinetic measures only in addressing this crisis?
Why use only kinetic measures without looking at the other side? I think we cannot resolve it immediately. But when we look at it holistically or approach it holistically, I’m sure we’ll resolve it within a very short period. But we have to understand the dynamic scenario.
Have there been times when the government invited the leadership of your association to discuss solutions to this crisis?
A lot of time; you know, a lot of literature has been compiled about this farmer-harder conflict up to the banditry and what have you. A lot of committees have worked. A lot of approaches have been provided. Much information has been provided without implementation. So, I think there is a need for the Federal Government to identify critical stakeholders, bring them to one table, and try to sort out these things once and for all. The security agencies, and traditional rulers, will play an important role in this aspect.
The leadership of farmers, the vigilantes, and even the bandits, if they can be contacted, should be invited for a dialogue. So, through this, I believe, that when the approach is holistic, something will come out of this. Notwithstanding, the security agencies are doing their best, as it is now because they are always fighting, and they are succeeding.
However, the responsibility should not be left to them alone. We all have a responsibility to ensure security. Every individual has a responsibility, and they can complement the efforts of the security agencies. So, this complements what must be harnessed and put on the table for the security to implement. ...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
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