The Zamfara State Government has said it is making efforts to build Ruga settlements for repentant bandits in some states.
It said it already granted amnesty to all the repentant bandits who surrendered their weapons and embraced the peace accord initiated by the governor, Bello Matawalle.
This move was made public by the Special Adviser to the Governor Matawalle on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Zailani Baffa.
Baffa said, “Following the amnesty arrangement, the state government has since last year granted amnesty to some bandits who were in detention at various correctional centres in the state just as the bandits also released some people they have kidnapped.
“Governor Matawalle has already told the world that he has chosen dialogue as a means of ending banditry in the state and has granted amnesty to many repentant bandits. Arrangements are also in top gear to provide shelter to the repentant bandits through the construction of Ruga settlements in some parts of the state.”
He added that following the tour to the state by Sheikh Ahmad Gummi; there were so many bandits willing to repent and join the governor’s peace accord.
He added, “All the state government needs from the Federal Government are deploying more security personnel to the state so that we can fight those recalcitrant bandits who are not ready to surrender.”
He stressed that the governor had constitutional rights to enter into dialogue with the bandits just as he had the right to grant them amnesty. “We have gone far in this arrangement, and it is yielding positive results,” Baffa added.
Governor Bello Matawalle had said that the Zamfara state under his watch would not abandon negotiations with bandits.
He said this despite fruitlessness of similar peace talks with bandits, even backed with monetary inducement to stop violence, by his counterparts in the North.
Borno and Katsina governments had reached out to the bandits before and they promised to stop attacking residents of the states.
There was momentary peace in both states before they started witnessing a resurgence of attacks from the bandits again.
