A notorious criminal kingpin has entered into another truce with Nigerian authorities in Zamfara state, wracked by years of deadly violence and kidnappings — yet doubts remain about whether it will lead to lasting peace.
Gangs locally known as “bandits” have for years been terrorising communities in northwest and central Nigeria, raiding villages, kidnapping residents for ransom and burning homes after looting them.
Bello Turji, a 31-year-old former herder, has made a name as one of the country’s most notorious bandit leaders through his indiscriminate killings and threatening videos, though last month he reached a deal with Nigeria’s federal authorities to stop attacks in Shinkafi district.
The gangs have turned cattle theft, kidnapping and imposing taxes on farmers into huge moneymakers across the impoverished countryside, where state presence has long been nearly non-existent.
Unable to defeat the bandits militarily, authorities at the state, local and federal levels have at times turned to peace deals, although they have often collapsed and the violence has restarted.
The truce with Turji was reached after three separate meetings between Muslim clerics and the kingpin in his Fakai village stronghold, according to an August 5 conflict monitoring report produced for the United Nations and seen by AFP.
In a video posted online, Musa Yusuf Asadus-Sunnah, a renowned Salafi cleric based in the northern city of Kaduna, confirmed leading the delegation.
Turji led four other bandit leaders in the deal, the report said.
He agreed to end deadly raids on communities, kidnapping and cattle theft in exchange for cessation of attacks by local vigilantes on his Fulani kinsmen.
The origins of Nigeria’s banditry crisis lie in farmer-herder conflicts over dwindling land, an issue exacerbated by climate change.
As violence escalated and gangs formed, many bandits heavily drew ranks from Fulani herders.
Fulani civilians have been both the victims of cattle rustling from bandits and retaliation from other banditry victims, meted out across ethnic lines.
Turji also released 32 captives to the clerics and “surrendered some weapons” during the negotiations, the report said.
Shinkafi district residents have “resumed farming activities in farms located in forests near Turji’s hideouts”, following the peace deal, it said.
“Since our last talks, the area has not recorded any attacks,” said Asadus-Sunnah, who was involved in similar peace talks in his native Kaduna state in November.
The Nigerian government was involved in the negotiations, he said.
A spokesman for the office of the National Security Adviser did not respond to a request for comment.
– Peace deals as ‘survival strategy’ –
Turji has made several peace agreements with Zamfara state authorities, only to renege and resume attacks.
Other peace deals struck between state governments and bandits have fallen apart when authorities fail to uphold their end of the bargain, or when bandits simply strike a truce in one state and then start launching attacks in another, analysts say.
The latest deal came after several of Turji’s men were killed in an offensive last month by local vigilantes and anti-jihadist militia brought in by the Zamfara government as reinforcements for the military.
Additionally, Turji was recently forced to flee to Jigawa state to avoid capture after a raid on his Fakai stronghold, an intelligence source told AFP.
“He is only using peace deals as a survival strategy, staying quiet until after the heat subsides,” Mannir Fura-Girke, a security analyst with deep knowledge of bandit groups, told AFP.
While the resumption of farming is good news in a region where bandit violence has put pressure on an ongoing malnutrition crisis, not all Shinkafi residents support the truce.
“Only military force can stop them,” said Hamisu Aliyu, adding that attacks have continued despite the deal.
– Underlying tensions unresolved –
Bandits who sign peace deals typically keep most of their weapons and have, in the past, used truces to create safe havens in the area under an agreement while continuing to strike elsewhere.
A November accord in Kaduna state’s Binin Gwari district has been followed by improved security in the area — and increased bandit attacks in another part of the state as well as neighbouring Katsina and Niger states.
Neither peace deals nor military campaigns have solved underlying tensions such as widespread poverty, conflict between herders and farmers, poor government services or criminal impunity.
“Banditry has become a huge moneymaker for these criminal gangs. It is too lucrative for them to stop, no matter how many peace deals they sign,” Fura-Girke said.
AFP