Last week, political and military leadership had engaged the armed bandits and cattle rustlers in the state in a series of peace talks in the latest move to bring the wanton destruction of lives and property in the state to an end.
At the peace dialogue event on Sunday at Gidan Jaja village of Zurmi local government area, over about 1,000 armed bandits from 14 different camps in the local government area publicly renounced armed banditry and all sorts of crimes.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division Nigeria Army, Kaduna, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade said the Army would not relent on its aggressive operation in the state until when the state is cleared of all armed bandits and other criminals terrorizing the state.
The GOC who was represented by the Brigade Commander, 1 Brigade Sokoto, Brigadier General G K Nwosu said the operation had started as part of the concerted efforts to resolve the issue of livestock rustling and armed banditry.
“Whether the bandits like it or not, armed banditry must stop in Zamfara state, therefore it is better for them to renounce all forms of crimes and surrender their weapons now or be forced to do so,” he warned.
Speaking on behalf of the 14 notorious camp leaders, Samaila Samaho Tsannu blames the neglect of the Fulani communities by the state government and unlawful killings of the Fulanis in the state by the volunteer vigilante known as 'Yan Sakai’ over false allegations as the roots of the reprisal attacks by the armed bandits.
"What will you do when some group of people just select your kinsmen, accuse them of stealing without any prove and kill them extra judiciously and the government is not doing anything to protect you or prevent the reoccurrence of the selective killings."
The bandit leader then urged the state government to provide basic amenities such earth dams, health centres, schools to make life comfortable for those in the rural areas particularly the herdsman.
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