Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has declared that not all bandits are criminals, though they terrorise states in the country, with his among those under heavy heat.
He made the statement after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, February 18, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to the governor, the bandits took up arms out of protest of the injustice meted on them by some members of the society.
Explaining the injustice, Mr Matawalle said vigilante groups in their host communities sometimes rustle their cattle and destroy their livelihood and because they could not get justice, they resorted to violence.
“Not all of them are criminals. If you investigate what is happening, and what made them to take the laws into their hands, some of them, sometimes were cheated by so-called the vigilante group.”
Hundreds of persons have been killed or kidnapped by the bandits in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna and Nasarawa States in recent years. States in other regions have also been bearing the brunt of attacks by bandits.
But despite the attacks on innocent citizens, the governor has repeatedly called on the federal government to grant amnesty to repentant bandits. Nigeria’s Information minister, Lai Mohammed, Sheikh Gumi, and others have also voiced support for the proposal.