Zamfara massacre: Communities groan amidst allegations of complicity by politicians, security agents and traditional leaders (2)

In the second part of this investigation, Haruna Mohammed Salisu reports on how politicians, security agents and traditional rulers aided and abetted the ongoing onslaught on communities by the arm bandits in Zamfara state

Residents of communities attacked by the bandits, displaced people living in host communities and in camps, members of vigilante groups as well as civil society organizations interviewed by WikkiTimes have fingered community and political leaders for being behind the bloodbath that permeated all the 14 local government areas of the state.

For instance, a resident of Maradun who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity, while tracing the origin of the crisis attributed the massacre to the arming of thugs with sophisticated weapons in 2011 by some politicians in the state to help them win the polls at all cost.

Though WikkiTimes could not substantiate his claims, the source said the thugs were led by one Sani Gwamna Manyanci who is currently in the custody of security agencies for his alleged role in the conflict. 

Another source who works with a civil society organization in Gusau argued that Sani Gwamna Manyanci was himself a former criminal who brokered a deal between the state government and the bandits.

Many believed that the deal has empowered the criminals to procure more arms and kill innocent and unarmed civilians.

“The whole thing is a complete conspiracy, how would you offer one million naira to a criminal who just spent N400,000 to N500,000 to acquire an AK-47 rifle; when you do that, you are emboldening him to kill more because he will be rewarded for doing that”, said Comrade Munnir Haidara, Chairman Northern Youth Assembly,  Zamfara state chapter.

Some Residents from Nasarawa Godal displaced by the banditry and who have full knowledge of how the bandits operate insisted that Sani Gwamna Manyanci was behind some of the operations that saw voters threatened and choreographed to vote for certain candidate in the controversial APC primaries that left the party without a governorship candidate for the 2019 polls.

‘We were seriously threatened; some voters whose political lineage was glaring were beaten by thugs for defying the so called anointed candidate’ a source from Birnin Magaji LGA who was himself beaten up by the bandits has said.

Another victim whose elder brother was killed in the conflict and who took our correspondent to some communities and IDP camps at Maradun LGA reiterated that Sani Gwamna Manyanci was visibly sited holding AK47 rifle amidst the arm bandits in 2017 at Mahanga forest, one of the hideout of the bandits.

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Similarly, residents in Tsafe LGA who confided in this medium reported being threatened and forced to vote for the anointed candidate or ‘get rewarded with bullets’.

When WikkiTimes posed a question to the Zamfara state Police Public Relations Officer about the level of their investigations on Manyanci whom reports say has been arrested by the Command; ASP Mohammed Shehu says ‘ I can’t comment on this…I don’t know what you are talking about… I don’t know what you are saying’.

Villagers affected by the arm bandits were not alone in fingering politicians particularly the current political leaders and their close aides.

For instance, Adamu Abubakar Kotorkoshi, the Executive Director, Centre for Community Excellence (CENCEX) wondered why the Governor ignored all security warnings since the start of the conflict. “since the start of the conflicts, CSOs have been warning the government ever since’ but regretted that their warnings were politicized at the initial stage with counter press conferences and all forms of media engagement.

He said the government was unwilling to take measures to address the conflict; “raising many questions on whether they were interested in the blood spree”, he said.

Adamu argued that the major objective of any government in the world was to secure the lives and property of its citizenry; “if they fail to do that, they lose legitimacy; in the case of Zamfara state, there is absolute constitutional failure in discharging their duty”.

“The governor ought to be having security meeting with all the security apparatus every Wednesdays of the week, but remember, he told the world that he is no longer the security officer of the state.

Another member of the civil society organization in the state who craved anonymity said “Even Borno state that is worst hit by Boko Haram insurgents, the Governor did not resigned his position as the security officer, he managed the situation even when he was not a friend of the then serving President.

 “There are a lot of questions the incumbent Governor of Zamfara state should answer when it comes to the ongoing banditry in the state.

The Chairman of Northern Youth Assembly, Zamfara state chapter; Comrade Munnir Haidara also echoes Adamu’s stand in pointing accusing fingers on the state governor “since 2011 when this conflict started, we have called on the attention of the Governor; we held series of meetings and wrote many communiqués, but it appears the government is not interested in ending the conflict”.

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Munnir said the governor had ignored all warnings from critical stakeholders in the state, including security apparatus.

 “The governor doesn’t even stay in the state, he does not hold security meetings, he travels here and there while the state burns”, Haidara added.

When this reporter asked Zamfara state police Command on whether the governor hold security meetings with security agencies in the state, the Police PRO declined to comment on the subject; “See, let me tell you, just limit yourself on this; that we the command have good working relationship with the state government and that is exactly what I want you to understand, and that is the truth of the matter.

A vigilante chairman in one of the LGAs visited by WikkiTimes revealed that the relationship between politicians and the arm robbers was glaring; “they withdraw security agencies from target locations to allow robbers operate freely, support them with sophisticated weapons, and in return ask them to threatened voters to support their political ambition or get killed” he said.

WikkiTimes puts several calls and text messages to Ibrahim Dosara, the spokesperson of Governor Abdul’aziz Yari, he neither picked nor returned our calls for comments over the allegations on his principal.

The role of security agents in the conflict

Security agents have also been accused by multiple sources for “helping politicians do their dirty game”.

A retired police officer who spoke to WikkiTimes in Maradun also said politicians connive with security agents to secure the release of armed robbers when they got arrested by security agencies.

Residents in most of the affected villages say security agents are complicit by allowing the bandits operate at will, and are reluctant to confront them.

For instance, Abu from Falau, (real name and the exact LGA concealed) an active vigilante member who took our correspondent on a motorbike to locations in one of the LGAs visited said “when we planned a joint operation with the security agents, they will withdraw immediately they hear gunshots of the bandits.

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“Sometimes they tell us that their armoured vehicle does not have a headlight; as such they have to withdraw… even on a brought daylight, they can decide to withdraw and tell you that it’s orders from above” leaving him to wonder what “order from above could mean”.

Members of CSOs in the state and displaced villagers who are familiar with security operations confided in this medium that the security agencies are not interested in ending the Zamfara massacre.

For instance, villagers complained that some police ASPs and DPOs have been named in the conflict for supplying ammunitions to the bandits. Residents at Nasarawa Godal specifically named one ASP Binta whom, they said “is a very close friend to the bandits”. Their claims could not however be verified by WikkiTimes up to the time of compiling this report.

“Let me tell you, they (referring to security agencies) don’t want to end the conflict. “The security agencies know all the camps of the bandits, they know their leaders… these criminals are not aliens, they are known by everybody most especially the security agencies… they are just not willing to end the conflict.

When this reporter posed the concern of the vigilantes on the idea that the security agents know the bandits and their hideout but were unwilling to arrest and bring them to justice, Zamfara state police spokesperson ASP Mohammed Shehu, confirmed knowledge of the bandits’ hideout; “Mahanga is virtually the largest hideout in the whole of Zamfara state”.

He said a special intervention force went to the hideout and killed over 104 bandits and destroyed so many camps, a claim that many of the vigilante members disagree with, despite media reports.

“If they had succeeded in destroying the camps, why has the killings continued, queried one of our sources.

Near total absence of security agents in the affected places

Of all the four LGAs visited by WikkiTimes, there is nearly total absence of security personnel in the affected villages. Investigation revealed that police were only present at LGAs headquarters; rendering villages helpless in the hands of the bandits who nearly operate with impunity.

From Gusau, the state capital to Birnin Magaji LGA, the country home of Mansur Dan-Ali, Nigeria’s Defense Minister, a driving distance of 104.55 km, there is only one police check point situated close to a police division at Kauran Namoda LGA.

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From, Gusau to Maradun LGA which is over 76km, our reporter only sited one military check point also placed close to the LGA headquarters.


A police outpost closed down at Nasarawa Godel, the second biggest town in B/Magaji LGA

 

From Yankara, a town that borders Zamfara and Katsina, and from Tsafe LGA to Gusau, this reporter saw only one police and immigration joint check point. There is also total absence of security check points from Tsafe to Gusau, a distance of about 46km.

The lack of security presence was glaring in almost all communities visited by this medium, forcing residents to form vigilante groups to offer temporary security—who in most cases flee to superior firearms from the bandits.

A motorist who frequently plies Tsafe to Gusau and Gusau to Maradun wondered why the checkpoints were dismantled and security agencies withdrawn from strategic locations.

When WikkiTimes inquired why the checkpoints were dismantled unlike other places marred by conflict where one could see a lot of checkpoints mounted at strategic locations probably to intercept the circulation of weaponry and apprehend criminals, the Police Public Relations Officer says “the police may be responding to discrete calls”.

But different sources from affected communities who spoke to WikkiTimes suspected something sinister. “we don’t trust the security agents, there were many checkpoints and patrol vehicles in most of these roads before the conflict. But the checkpoints have disappeared when they are most needed” a motorist familiar with Zamfara terrain told passengers including our correspondent on board to Maradun LGA.

Vigilantes resort to local charms to confront bandits, but fear Informants

When our correspondent ask members of the vigilantes how they confront the bandits who appear well armed and motivated, Ali Manu, a vigilante member from Tsafe LGA said “local charm is helping us dodge bullets;  that is our only security now”.

Headquaters of Tsafe LGA

When this reporter boarded a vehicle to Maradun from Gusau LGA, passengers had as topic of discussion; the role of the local charms in motivating the vigilantes to offer defence to their villages.

When this reporter was having conversation with a source from Tsabre community at Birnin Magaji LGA who was narrating their ordeal, a woman appeared and the source had to stop offering further explanation.

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After a moment of silence, the woman enquired who the reporter was, and the source said the reporter ‘is a friend from from Gusau’.

She stood by, staring at the reporter for some minutes and later left.

WikkiTimes’ findings about the woman revealed that she is alleged to be an informant who feeds the bandits with information on ‘defiant villagers disclosing their secrets to security agencies or outsiders’.

 Although she equally run for her live when the bandits stroke Tsabre community, but she is largely not trusted by co-IDPs.

Traditional rulers fingered…some dethroned

Traditional leaders are also complicit in the conflict in many ways: they shield arm bandits, help politicians downsize the magnitude of the problem, force households to accommodate IDPs to avoid concentrating them in camps—to ease suppressing information about the conflict.

For instance, in Brinin Magaji LGA, the home town to Mansur Dan Ali, Nigeria’s defence Minister, IDPs from Tsabre, Garin Kaka, Garin Haladu and other neighbouring villages displaced by the bandits were initially camped at Galadima Primary School, both in November and December 2018, following two separate attacks.


Galidima Primary School where IDPs were camped for 3 days
The IDPs at Galidima were cooking here during their 3 days stay at the Primary School

Galadima primary school is located few meters to the defence minister’s house which also lies opposite the Emir’s palace.

The displaced villagers stayed in the school for only three days; “and where shared among households in the town to avoid embarrassment” said Sunusi, a displaced villager from Tsabre who lost three boys to the bandits.

When this reporter who disguised as aid worker pressed further to uncover why the IDPs were ejected out of Galadima Primary school, Sunusi became suspicious after noticing some dialectical differences. He later declined comment and zoomed off, leaving this reporter and his guide at the school.

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Lami (not real name) hails from Ruwan Bado in Maradun LGA. She was divorced by her husband and abandoned to take care of her twins and five other children. She also fingered her traditional leader for complicity and involvement in the armed banditry; “before my husband left, he did tell us how our traditional leader used to support the bandits with information to keep terrorising us. “But we cannot say whether he was doing that out of fear of being killed by the bandits himself”

Lami and her twins

Another source who pledged anonymity pointed accusing fingers on the Emir of Birnin Magaji, Alhaji Hussaini Dan Ali for forcefully ejecting the IDPs out of the Primary School “to avoid embarrassment to the minister”.

Sources in the LGA said Hussaini Dan Ali was acting on “directives from above” to suppress information about IDPs at the LGA.

Getting access to speak to more victims of the Zamfara carnage has remained a herculean task.

For instances, this reporter in spite of disguising as an aid worker trying to obtain statistics of those displaced to enable him supply relief materials for the IDPs found it difficult to have access to some households in Birnin Magaji LGA, an indication that they might have been schooled not to allow strangers have access.

With support from the reporter’s guide, WikkiTimes had access to a household that houses more than 25 IDPs at Birnin Magaji. When this reporter entered the house, he physically counted 14 children of different ages waiting for their mothers to finish cooking, as hunger and psychological trauma in them was very visible.

Some pictures taken haphazardly, because our correspondent was not allowed to film

This reporter who was carefully watched was not allowed to take pictures, but he hapharzadly snapped the residents without their knowledge

The state government had earlier dethroned seven traditional rulers for allegedly supporting the bandits.

Concealing the problem hampering humanitarian aid

In the early hours of Wednesday, the 26th of December, 2018, at Nasarawan Godal Birnin Magaji LGA, this reporter witnessed the influx of over 200 women into the town from neighboring villages with their small children and herds they could pick while fleeing the rampaging bandits.

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The villages around the area were all ransacked by the bandits. Some of the women who look psychologically impaired and confused told WikkiTimes that their villages were put on fire by the bandits; and since the series of attacks started, they did not receive any humanitarian aid from anybody despite losing almost everything to the bandits.

 Adamu Abubakar Kotorkoshi explained why there is no humanitarian aid or relief material for the victims “the government doesn’t want the world to know something is happening in Zamfara. “When you are hiding your own problems, how do you expect people to come and support you?

The desperation to downsize the magnitude of the problem and further neglect the IDPs frustrated them to stage a violent protest that got Tsafe LGA Secretariat burnt down to ashes.

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