Repentant Fulani bandits in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, on Monday, gave reasons why they attacked and kidnapped the people of the area.
The former bandits disclosed this at a peace meeting in Tsafe, saying that they were victims of harassment and intimidation of the police and the vigilantes. This, they said, instigated them into becoming kidnappers and bandits.
In a statement made at the palace of the Emir of Tsafe, Muhammadu Bawa, one of the bandits, Hassan Dantawaye, said the government and society treated them unjustly.
‘We were forced into this because apart from cattle rustling incidents we faced some years back, we also faced serious harassment from security personnel and “Yansakai”. We cannot go to markets, our children cannot go to school, whenever they see our children or wives in town they killed them.
If security personnel arrest us, we have to spend a lot of money before we are released, sometimes security agencies launch attacks on our homes and kill us without any offence.
With this ugly trend, we have no option than to embark on kidnapping, attacks and other crimes’, Dantawaye said.
A Fulani leader, Alhaji Madele, thanked the state government for the peace talks and urged the security agencies to protect them from the vigilantes and security personnel who attack them.
