NewsN20k For AK-47, N5k For Ammunition - Insider Exposes Banditry In Zamfara

N20k For AK-47, N5k For Ammunition – Insider Exposes Banditry In Zamfara

September 12, (THEWILL) – Bandits in Zamfara make money dealing in the trafficking of arms and ammunitions, with the bulk of the proceeds going to drugs, women and gambling.

This was revealed in a 10-year research work on banditry in Zamfara conducted by Murtala Rufa’i, a lecturer at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

The researcher said the data he used were collated from interviews with bandits and visits to many areas within the state.

In his research titled, ”I Am A Bandit’: A Decade of Research on Armed Banditry in Zamfara State”, Rufa’i said studies have shown that there are over 60,000 weapons circulating in the north-west.

He said weapons like anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled grenade tubes, general purpose machine guns, AK-47, AK-49, G3 magazines, amongst others were found in different bandit camps in the state.

“Most arguments on the source of weapons wheel around the penetrable border theory and the inability of the security to man the over 1,950 official borders,” the report, which was delivered at a seminar on September 9, reads.

“There is an absolute shortage of manpower and officers want to be posted to lucrative borders. The armed smugglers mostly use these minor entries for the supply of arms into the country.”

He said officers at border posts were alleged to have facilitated the movement of arms into the country.

According to him, this could be part of the reason Muhammed Babandede, former comptroller-general of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), issued an order in 2020 that more officers be deployed to the borders.

“Thus, the wider assumption is that arms supply in Zamfara is majorly from the Nigeria-Niger borders located around Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina axis,” the report reads.

“This is a plausible assumption as there are some border communities within these states with a substantial number of individual gunrunners, whose main role is to simply move arms across the borders.

“Some of these illicit traffickers are well-known in their communities, while others remain unknown. Calamity could befall any community that exposes these suppliers to security agencies.

“Since the Nigerian security operatives have complained of grossly inadequate personnel, in addition to proving incapable of defending the people from the rural war-lords, the best thing is to observe the ‘conspiracy of silence’ for peace to reign in the villages.

“There is also the use of women and children as couriers of arms along the border. It is very difficult to get a woman arm courier, but if you have any, they are the safest and easiest ways of cross-border arms movement.

“Depending on the distance and terrain, an AK47 rifle is transported into a nearby village from the border at the rate of N20,000, while a bag containing 100 rounds of ammunition at the cost of N5,000.

“Thus, transporting the ammunition is much easier due to its size and could be divided into different portions, what the locals called Geron Hajiya.”

He said some of the gunmen have removed a large number of agents who supply arms, and have become either importers or local transporters of arms.

An informant who spent five years as a bandit around the Dan-Sadau area, said: “I have wasted five years for nothing. Had it been I knew, I could have been a gunrunner earlier. There is more money, peace and pride to be in the arm supplying chain”.

Over the years, gunmen have attacked communities in Zamfara, despite the state’s decision to grant amnesty to bandits. However, the state has suspended this policy.

THEWILL reported earlier that the state governor, Bello Matawalle, announced on Friday that his administration will no longer offer amnesty to bandits since they have “refused to embrace peace”.

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