I am a bandit, says northern varsity lecturer, exposes half million AK47s in possession of 120 bands of criminals in northwest

In the last 10 years across Zamfara, no fewer than 12,000 citizens have been killed by bandits.

Dr Murtala A. Rufa’I, a lecture at the Usman Dan Fodiyo University, stated this as part of a study he conducted between 2011 and 2020.

According to him, there are 120 gangs of bandits operating in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger.

This criminals wield at least half a million AK-47 rifles, with which they have killed and rustled no fewer than 250,000 head of cattle across 120 villages.

Many of the villagers, at least 50, 000, the study discovered, have been displaced.

The lecturer disclosed these at a public lecture organised by Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, as part of its seminar series on banditry in the North West.

Presenting a paper, titled, “I am a Bandit: A Decade of Research in Zamfara Bandit’s Den”, Rufa’i said he had had a one-on-one interaction with some of the bandits’ leaders.

These bandits basically engaged in the mass killing of innocent people, cattle rustling, kidnapping, gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) and other related human rights abuses.

“At the beginning, they lived in the woods and mountainous areas from where they unleashed terror on the rural and urban areas in the states but some of the bandits have become very daring to the extent of operating from their respective villages,” he said.

Among the leaders he identified are the one-armed bandit one Dan-Karami of Zurmi, Alhaji Auta of Birnin Magaji, Halilu of Chafe, Turji of Isa and Dogo Gide of Birnin Gwari.

These all have the financial capacity and connections to procure a large number of weapons.

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Since the northeast became too hot for the Boko Hrama/ISWAP terrorists operating in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, the terrorist fanned out, and later identified as bandits.