Three notorious bandits said to have repented have again surrendered their weapons to the Zamfara State Government.
After giving up their AK-47 rifles and other ammunition on Monday, the bandits had sworn with the Holy qua’ran not to return to carry out banditry activities again.
One of them who spoke in Hausa at the Government House in Gusau said that they have sincerely accepted the peace initiative of the state government; pledging not to commit dastardly acts any longer.
On his part, Governor Bello Matawalle said his administration will do everything humanly possible to mop up arms from the bandits.
The governor said the move is necessary for peace to reign in the state to enable residents to go about carrying out their lawful businesses.
While noting that not all Fulanis are criminals, he argued that some of them were pushed into criminalities.
“We thank God for making us witness another day of success. When we started this dialoguing with these people, we have been getting so many attacks from all angles because people do not understand what it means,” he said
“People have been debating the issue of insecurity but they don’t know the root cause and they don’t want to understand. The only jump and conclude that why govt A, B, C, D are subscribing to dialogue.
“The government is doing everything possible to mop-up all the weapons belonging to them, to bring it to the proper authority.”
He emphasised that the state government is applying the two methods, kinetic and none kinetic approach to flush out banditry in Zamfara State.
Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, commended the state government for the peace initiative, noting that it is achieving the desired result.
He however called on other bandits to make up their minds and surrender their weapons for peace to reign in the state.
“This is an indication that the peace process is steadily moving and the message of peace is sinking into the population,” he said.
“With this epoch-making event, we believe that citizens of Zamfara State and residents will have relief. The quantum of weapons taken today is sufficient leverage in our peace-making efforts.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on all other weapons that are still undecided to a cue from the process today and submit their firearms,” he added.
Earlier on February 8, eight repentant bandits embraced the amnesty deal and surrendered their weapons to the Zamfara State Government.
The weapons including AK-47 rifles, General Multipurpose Machine Gun (GPMG), Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) and several ammunitions were surrendered at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital.
