Northwestern Nigeria
Zamfara offers cows for guns to halt bandit attacks
Authorities in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state have offered two cows for each gun surrendered to halt bloody attacks by criminal gangs, including cattle rustlers. Remote communities across the region have for years been hit hard by deadly raids from armed groups of motorcycle-riding cattle rustlers and kidnappers. Military operations have failed to end the killings and local officials have tried repeated negotiations to broker peace. Zamfara governor Bello Matawalle said on Thursday that under the new initiative “for every rifle submitted by a repentant bandit, there would be compensation of two cows”. Matawalle said the offer of livestock was meant to convince the gangs, known as “bandits”, to disarm without cash payments that could be used to buy more arms. There was no indication i...
Thirteen killed in Katsina bandit attacks
Thirteen people died on Friday when villagers fought back against armed cattle thieves in Katsina State where rustling has been on the increase. The spokesperson of the police in the state, Gambo Isah, confirmed this to Channels Television on Saturday. Also speaking to AFP, the PPRO noted that residents of four villages, organised in local militias, took on the livestock rustlers. “Thirteen people were killed and others injured in the process,” Isah said. “We keep telling people who are only armed with muskets and machetes to avoid confrontation with bandits who came with Kalashnikov rifles”. Northwestern Nigeria has been wracked by years of violence between rival communities over land, attacks by heavily-armed criminal gangs and reprisal killings by vigilante groups. Cattle rustling and k...
