• About Us
Sunday, January 29, 2023
  • Login
The Daily Reality
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Sports
    Can Arsenal be stopped?

    Can Arsenal be stopped?

    Veteran actor ‘Papa Ajasco’ is dead

    Veteran actor ‘Papa Ajasco’ is dead

    Rahama Sadau is just a western copycat

    Rahama Sadau is just a western copycat

    Messi leaving Camp Nou — Barcelona

    We made the best decision by letting Messi go—Barca president

    Breaking: World football legend, Pele, dies at 82

    Breaking: World football legend, Pele, dies at 82

    Morocco’s outstanding World Cup campaign and the lessons for Africa

    Morocco’s outstanding World Cup campaign and the lessons for Africa

    For my friends who don’t know the Bisht

    The 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup: Triumph of cultural tolerance and setback to clash of civilisations

    On the conditional lionisation of Black players and racism in football

    On the conditional lionisation of Black players and racism in football

    Basketmouth’s marriage crashes

    Basketmouth’s marriage crashes

  • Local
  • Education
  • International
  • Kannywood
  • Entertainment
  • Religion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Sports
    Can Arsenal be stopped?

    Can Arsenal be stopped?

    Veteran actor ‘Papa Ajasco’ is dead

    Veteran actor ‘Papa Ajasco’ is dead

    Rahama Sadau is just a western copycat

    Rahama Sadau is just a western copycat

    Messi leaving Camp Nou — Barcelona

    We made the best decision by letting Messi go—Barca president

    Breaking: World football legend, Pele, dies at 82

    Breaking: World football legend, Pele, dies at 82

    Morocco’s outstanding World Cup campaign and the lessons for Africa

    Morocco’s outstanding World Cup campaign and the lessons for Africa

    For my friends who don’t know the Bisht

    The 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup: Triumph of cultural tolerance and setback to clash of civilisations

    On the conditional lionisation of Black players and racism in football

    On the conditional lionisation of Black players and racism in football

    Basketmouth’s marriage crashes

    Basketmouth’s marriage crashes

  • Local
  • Education
  • International
  • Kannywood
  • Entertainment
  • Religion
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Reality
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Matso-Matso Jibia and their unfair treatment

Admin by Admin
19 October 2021
in Opinion
0
Matso-Matso Jibia and their unfair treatment

Prof. Abdussamad Jibia

0
SHARES
229
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
By Prof. Abdussamad Umar Jibia

It is now one and a half months since the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC) issued an order to all telecommunication companies to shut down their telecommunication sites in Zamfara state. According to the information released by Nigeria’s telecommunication regulator, it did so at the instance of the Zamfara State Government. The shutdown, according to the NCC boss was necessary to “enable relevant security agencies to carry out the required activities towards addressing the security challenge in the state”.

Soon after, a number of local governments in Katsina state, including mine, were shut down at the request of the Katsina State Government.

Although I had my reservations about the order, I kept my comments to myself and remained hopeful. This is for two reasons. One. I decided to believe that the decision was taken in good faith after due consultations and brainstorming among Government and security officials on the ground. In civilized societies such collective decisions are respected not necessarily because they are the best but because of the blessings associated with numbers.

My other reason was to avoid being misunderstood. Since banditry started in Jibia/Batsari area it has affected many of my near and distant relations. But despite that and the fact that all of us, including most of the direct victims, supported and voted in this Government, many people believe that we have no reason to criticize the present Government even if constructively. If you are kidnapped, killed, raped or injured the person you should blame is yourself or your Governor but not the central Government. I know the kind of negative reactions I receive from such people just for narrating that a bandits’ operation has taken place in my local government. That has not prevented me from saying my mind anyway.

It is almost two months now and so far, as far as I know, none of the known bandits’ kingpins has been killed or arrested. Is that because their locations are unknown? I don’t think so. When Government was looking for them to sign a peace accord, they were easily located. In fact, if Government sources are anything to go by, the Governors have their telephone numbers and they were always in touch.

“Since the bandits are isolated inside the forest, is it not easier to bombard them?” I am only repeating a question a journalist asked one of the Governors. The answer, please don’t laugh was, “They hide inside caves”.

Like that journalist, I also thought that the security agents had already identified the bandits’ locations and all that remained was to launch rains of attacks within the two weeks they requested. Alas! Here we are. Tens have just been killed in Sokoto state. In other states like mine, the stories are not different. However, the news does not travel quickly because of the telecommunications shutdown. I heard someone insinuate that to be the reason the Government asked for telecommunications cut.

Of course, some of the Governors like Aminu Masari are vividly helpless. We saw how he went around begging service chiefs to come and help him deal with bandits. In the end, when the kind of help he was looking for was not forthcoming, he started telling the people to acquire arms and defend themselves. Do you blame him?
Yes. I blame him for not buying the weapons and distributing them to the people. Most of the victims of banditry are villagers who are struggling to eat. Where does my Governor expect them to get the money to buy AK47 rifles?

But if I may ask, whose policy is it to burn the houses of suspected bandits but not to kill or arrest them? Again, how do you identify a bandit in order to arrest, kill or burn their houses? I wrote severally that the bandits living in communities should be identified and summarily tackled and I have no regret for saying it.

However, some of the activities of local vigilantes and security forces in the Jibia/Batsari axis leave much to be desired. Over the past month, many houses in selected villages were burnt to ashes and personal effects were taken away by local vigilantes backed by regular security forces. To my dismay, no bandit was said to be arrested or killed in the operations. In fact, as far as I know, no bandit was identified and declared wanted. This raises concern about the sincerity of those who carried out the attacks. Are they actually fighting banditry or is it banditry with another face?

I am particularly worried about one of the villages whose story I know very well. Matso-Matso is a small settlement about two kilometres from Zandam in Jibia local government. Matso-Matso villagers are some of the early victims of banditry. Their resistance to banditry is what led to the assassination of their Imam in 2016. The Imam, who doubles as my maternal uncle, had the habit of gathering people every Thursday to recite the complete Qur’an and pray against bandits’ activities. This led to his attack by a group of bandits on August 7, 2016. The following week, I led a delegation of the villagers to meet the Emir of Katsina and the Commissioner of Police. If PC Usman Abdullahi or the head of his CID are reading this they will bear witness that they promised to launch a raid to arrest the five key suspects identified by the villagers. On their part, the villagers promised to arrest Jatau (not real name) the principal suspect and hand him over to the police dead or alive whenever they set eyes on him.

Neither the police raided nor did the villagers set eyes on Jatau before the infamous peace agreement Governor Masari sealed with the criminals in November of that year. To their disappointment, Jatau came to their village with a full Police escort and they were told that they had no option but to accept him since the Governor had forgiven him and signed a peace agreement with him. After all, they were told, he was their “brother” from a neighbouring village in the Batsari Local Government Area.

With Government in it, the villagers had no choice. They were totally demoralized. They realized their limited power and had to submit. Many times the bandits would come with their cattle and devour their farm produce but they had nowhere to report. The village was attacked several times but calling the regular security forces was a waste of time. The only choice Matso-Matso villagers had was to be paying Jatau, the killer of their Imam to be protecting them against other gangs. And it has been working very well.

Matso-Matso also falls on a major bandits’ route from the forest to the eastern part of Jibia LGA. The armed bandits thus made it a habit to branch and rest in the village and the villagers had no power to repel them.
That is the village in which no less than 28 houses were burnt down by local vigilante and their military backers because “all the people there are bandits”. Meanwhile, Jatau, the leader of bandits in Jibia and Batsari LGA has not been arrested.

My call on Governor Masari, Chief of … (sorry, I don’t even know who to call upon now). Okay, whosoever is in charge should find a more scientific way of identifying bandits living in rural communities and neutralizing them. The advice given by the Chairman, Jibia People’s Forum, which I agree to, is to launch an unexpected house to house search for weapons and the like in the villages. As for the townships, I believe they have by now heeded the advice of the Governor and acquired sufficient rifles.

Anarchy….. Allah Ya kyauta!

Professor Abdussamad Jibia can be contacted via aujibia@gmail.com.
See also  The Igbo Presidency!
Tags: BanditryJibia LGAKatsina StateKidnappingTelecommunications Services
Previous Post

Police apprehend man for allegedly raping two women in Ondo

Next Post

Where do we go from here?

Next Post
Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Ways to success in the 21st century

Ways to success in the 21st century

1 year ago
2023: Kwankwaso declares presidential ambition next week

2023: Kwankwaso declares presidential ambition next week

10 months ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Facebook Twitter
    The Daily Reality

    The Daily Reality

    The Daily Reality is an online news medium with a physical address in Kano State, Nigeria. As our name suggests, we aim to be realistic and truthful to our readers. Moreover, we are an independent, non-partisan company. Thus, we will always do our best to be fair, factual and accurate in our journalism.

    Follow us on social media

    Category

    • Business (62)
    • Education (282)
    • Engausa (9)
    • Entertainment (33)
    • Health (59)
    • International (159)
    • Kannywood (36)
    • Lifestyle (37)
    • Literature (31)
    • Local (288)
    • National (339)
    • News (1,212)
    • Opinion (924)
    • Politics (318)
    • Religion (158)
    • Science (13)
    • Security (37)
    • Sports (36)
    • Technology (59)
    • Travel (5)
    • Uncategorized (1)
    Tinubu and the dilemma of the 2023 presidency

    Tinubu and blueprint for the North

    29 January 2023
    Naja’atu Muhammad declares support for Kano’s Abba Gida-Gida 

    Naja’atu Muhammad declares support for Kano’s Abba Gida-Gida 

    29 January 2023
    BUK class 1991 honours new Jaiz Bank MD

    BUK class 1991 honours new Jaiz Bank MD

    29 January 2023

    © 2022 The Daily Reality - Powered by EasyLife Creative Studio.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Business
    • National
    • Entertainment
    • International
      • Kannywood

    © 2022 The Daily Reality - Powered by EasyLife Creative Studio.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In