The committee on finding solutions to banditry in Zamfara, on Friday said it has concrete evidence that five Emirs in the state were parts of the perpetrators in the spate of banditry in which more than 6,319 men and women were killed.
The Chairman of the committee and former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar also said 33 district and several village heads were also working with the bandits.
Abubakar, made the disclosure while submitting the committee’s report to Gov. Bello Matawalle in Gusau on Friday, though he did not publicly name the traditional rulers.
He added that 10 soldiers, some policemen and civil servants were discovered to have had their hands smeared in the banditry which lasted for about a decade in the state.
The former IGP however said some security personnel and one emir distinguished themselves creditably in the protection of the people.
He said that the committee had recommended that the emir be conferred with national honour while the officers should be promoted to their next ranks.
Abubakar said the 300-page report would be relevant to other state governments and the federal government in addressing security issues in the country.
The committee was inaugurated by Gov. Matawalle in July and its investigation covered between June 2011 and May 2019
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Meanwhile, the committee also disclosed that suspected bandits have collected over N3 billion as ransom from relatives of abducted victims.
IGP Mohammed Abubakar (rtd), chairman of the committee, added that the ransom was collected from 3,672 victims.
Abubakar said a total of 4,983 women were widowed, 25,050 children orphaned and 190,340 persons displaced in the state over the period.
He added that “innocent Fulani herdsmen” lost 2,015 cattle, 141 sheep and goats, 2,600 donkeys and camels to rustlers while 147,800 vehicles, motorcycles, and others were burnt at different times and locations within the period.
The former IGP said to achieve sustained peace, the state government should take over all farmlands situated on grazing routes and adopt modern livestock farming to encourage herders to remain in one place.
The committee also recommended unconditional disarmament and setting up of a judicial commission of inquiry backed by law to address all forms of banditry in the future.
The committee also advised the government to partner neighboring state governments to rehabilitate all interstate roads to ease the movement of security personnel and the general public.
Receiving the report, Matawalle promised to implement the recommendations.
“I would like to make it clear that personal relationship, sectional, geographical, religious and ethnic interests will have no role to play in the decision l will take with regard to recommendations of the committee, especially those that relate to the recommended sanctions and disciplinary measures.”
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