The Kaduna State Government says it has adopted a dialogue-led peace approach offering bandits access to education, healthcare, and livelihood support, rather than monetary incentives, as part of efforts to end years of banditry, killings, and mass abductions across the state.
The Commissioner for Information, Ahmed Maiyaki, stated this on Wednesday at a one-day workshop on peace journalism organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in collaboration with the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria and the Kaduna State Ministry of Information.
Mr Maiyaki said the strategy, known as the “Kaduna Peace Model”, represents a shift from confrontation to conversation, adding that development-driven engagement has proven more sustainable than military force.
“You cannot bomb peace into existence; you must build it with trust,” he said.
According to him, the government’s approach evolved after years of devastating attacks on rural communities. He said armed groups appealed for the reopening of markets, schools and health facilities previously shut due to persistent insecurity.
“We agreed because these are basic human needs, not ransom payments. We didn’t give them a dime. What we gave was life back to communities long abandoned,” he said.
Official data released by the state indicate that between 2015 and 2023, Kaduna recorded 1,160 security incidents that resulted in 4,876 deaths, with thousands kidnapped or displaced. In 2021 alone, 1,192 people were killed while 3,348 were abducted, leading to the closure of 142 schools and 192 healthcare centres across several local government areas.
Mr Maiyaki said the peace model, backed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), integrates intelligence sharing, sustained dialogue and socio-economic inclusion. Through a joint ONSA–Kaduna Peace Committee, he said more than 500 captives have been released “without paying ransom or resorting to force”.
“We are seeing trust where there was fear, and cooperation where there was hostility,” he noted.
He cited former bandit leaders now serving as community mediators and said over 500,000 hectares of farmland have been recovered, with agricultural activity gradually returning to previously inaccessible corridors. He added that markets have reopened, and cattle trucks now ply roads once abandoned by travellers.
He described each reopened school, clinic and marketplace as “a victory over fear”, arguing that dialogue and inclusion achieved what years of military operations could not.
“Our people wanted dignity, not pity. Once they saw sincerity, they embraced peace,” he said. He stressed that the process remains ongoing, involving traditional rulers, clerics and community leaders to guard against relapse.
“Peace is cheaper, deeper and more enduring when people have a stake in it,” he said. “The Kaduna experience proves that security without humanity is insecurity in disguise.”
Also speaking, the Guest Lecturer and Head of Department, Strategic Communication and Media Studies at Kaduna Polytechnic, Fatima Shuaibu, attributed Nigeria’s recurring conflicts to mismanaged diversity and leadership failures. She urged journalists to promote narratives that encourage unity and coexistence.
“When we misreport conflicts, we deepen wounds instead of healing them,” she said.
The Country Director of the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria, Joseph Hayab, emphasised the role of peace-centred reporting in shaping public perception and fostering reconciliation.
“Media must be a bridge, not a barrier,” he said.
The Chairman of the NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel in Kaduna, Maryam Ahmadu-Suka, said the workshop aims to strengthen conflict-sensitive reporting and amplify peacebuilding initiatives across communities affected by violence.
Her remarks come amid renewed clashes in the state. Last month, at least seven people were feared killed following a confrontation between suspected bandits and illegal miners in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, sparking panic and forcing residents to flee into nearby bushes.
