Governor Bello Matawalle has blamed the increased banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara state on conflicts between herders and farmers which past administrations failed to resolve.
Asides pointing out that the failure of some states in the Northwest region to enter into dialogue with the bandits has further led to the degeneration of the menace, the Zamfara state Governor also noted that the killing of a prominent Fulani leader in Dansadau was another factor responsible for the escalation of banditry in the state.
According to him, followers of the Fulani leader in Zamfara, Kebbi, and Sokoto states became aggrieved with his killing and started attacking perceived killers of their leader to avenge his death.
Speaking through his Commissioner-designate, Ibrahim Dosara at a Security conference in Kaduna State, Matawalle said this led to hostilities between the Fulani and Hausa communities, with each group attacking and killing one another.
He also pointed out that the herders and farmers’ conflict lingered for too long due to the weakening of the traditional institution and the judiciary in resolving the problem or prosecuting offender.
Alleging that inability of the government to resolve the conflict consequently made some of the actors involved devise some other means of tackling the proble, he also listed other contributory factors that escalated banditry in Zamfara state as proliferation of arms into the Northwest region through the porous borders from some African countries like Mali, Libya, and Chad.