In a 50-mnutes documentary by the BBC Africa Eye anchored by Yusuf Anka, a journalist operating in the insecurity infested area of the north, a notorious criminal named Abu Sanni, have claimed that banditry and criminality have become a profitable business for many people, including the government.
The bandit identified as Abu Sanni admitted in the documentary video that he was part of those behind the abduction of students of Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe in Zamfara State.
The abduction became known to the public on the 27th of February, when Nigerians woke up to the unfortunate news that bandits had once again struck and abducted and kidnapped 279 schoolchildren from a school in Talata-Mafara LGA of Zamfara.
The documentary by the BBC also provided details about the beginning of banditry in Zamfara State and how it has progressed into a profitable business for many.
Notable Quotes
On why the bandits abducted the students of Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe, Abu Sanni said that it was carried out as vengeance for attacks against the bandits by the Nigerian Army.
“When the rainy season ended, they sent the military after us. We decided to show the government they should not interfere in our problems. We went to Jangebe and took the students. We wanted to get the government angry,” he said.
“We demanded N300 million but after negotiations, N60 million was paid for their release.”
Money for everyone, including government
“Because it has become a business. Everyone wants money. That is why things are deteriorating, from the top to the bottom,” he added.
“They say when there is insecurity, the government gets money. Everyone is benefitting. We also get money. Though for our money, blood is split, so it continues.”
Confession of bandit who got royal title
Ado Aleru, the bandit leader who despite being on the police’s wanted list since 2019, was recently turbaned as Sarkin Fulani in Zamfara by a tribal chief was also featured in the BBC documentary.
Speaking in the documentary video, Ado Aleru admitted that he is personally responsible for killing the abductees, but do not get involved with the abductions.
“We only protest with guns. We know no journalists. We don’t know where to protest. Our protest is to take up arms and storm villages,” he said.
“I have never kidnapped anyone myself. My men do that. I only go and kill them,” he said, noting that he has lost count of the number of people he has killed” he said
Another bandit, who was not named in the video, but identified as a crime partner to the bandit leader – Aleru said the abductions were carried out by Fulani`s out of what he refers to as marginalization of the Fulanis.
He said, “Tell me, where can we rear our animals? In your investigation, are the cattle routes still there? In the rainy season, you have to carry the cows on your head,”
“You must walk on roads or take them on rocky paths where they fall and die. Even in the forest, warplanes chase us and kill our animals.
“How have the Fulani become so worthless in Nigeria? There is no veterinary hospital. We have nowhere for them(the cattle) to drink.
“Don’t cows have any value? Everyone needs meat. Everyone needs milk. Many Fulani have university degrees, the government never considers them.
“I swear, if 1,000 Hausas sit for an exam alongside a single Fulani man, they will pass all the Hausas and fail the Fulani man”, he told the reporter.
Hausa-Fulani Conflict
Another bandit by the name – Hassan Dantawaye, was identified as one of the earliest bandit leaders in Zamfara also gave his own account of the events and insecurity in the state.
The said Dantawaye was said to have benefited from an amnesty programme for the bandits in the state, which never resolved the insecurity.
Hassan Dantawaye was also said to have been the first bandit leader to bring in AK-47 military rifles into the state for the purpose of retaliating against the Hausas who they claim was maginalising the Fulanis in Zamfara.
Dantawaye said, “Everyone, the Fulani and the Hausa, have done something wrong. For the Fulani, retaliation is their major problem. While the Hausa don’t investigate who is guilty or innocent.
“We have policemen, soldiers, governors, chairmen, even councillors, no one is stopping this situation.
“It is only when we launch an attack, they will say we (referring to Fulani people) are wrong because they don’t see what is done to us.”
He further claimed that his house was burnt by the soldiers from the Nigerian Army, which was the reason he returned to criminality again. Speaking further he said, “This was done by soldiers, not vigilantes,” he said.
“How can [there be] peace with these transgressions? There is one thing with us whenever we are called for dialogue, we honour it but later our opinions are disregarded.
“In the whole world, nobody cares about our concerns. What is done to us is not fair and must stop.”
