Zamfara state governor, Bello Matawalle, has said not all bandits who terrorize parts of the state and other neighboring states are criminals.
The governor stated this after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today February 18.
He explained that most of the bandits take up arms due to the injustice meted on them by some members of the society.
He claimed: “Not all of them are criminals. If you investigate what is happening, and what made them to take the laws into their
hands, some of them, sometimes were
cheated by so-called the vigilante group.
“They normally go to their settlements and
destroy property and take their animals.
They did not have anyone to speak with, so
sometimes, they go for revenge. When the
vigilante group attacks them, they go for
reprisals. That is exactly what happened
Some of them are living in settlements
close to villages or towns. When there are
military operations, the military will go and
destroy their property and animals.”
They are angry with such actions sometimes. If you are talking to them, you can understand where they are coming from and their problems.
It is important for us as leaders to sit down
with them and understand what is the
genesis. You can’t just conclude that this
person is a criminal. You have to listen to
him. What led him to go into such
activities?
It is not all Fulanis that are criminals. Some
are good citizens, but due to some
circumstances, they subscribed to such
criminality but when we had the
information, we called their leaders and sat
with them, they told us their grudges and
we sorted out the way the communities and the Fulanis can resolve their issues without any serious crisis.”
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