Zamfara And The Dark Heart Of Insecurity -By Kene Obiezu

As insecurity continues to convulse Nigeria, rocking some states more than others, Zamfara State in northwest Nigeria has emerged as one of  those states that  has been especially haunted by insecurity.

Indeed, it appears the state which takes great pride in its farming activities  was the state where  banditry recorded its very beginnings in Nigeria when the newly discovered gold  deposits in the state were said to be behind the unrest. Some traditional rulers in the state were even accused of working in tandem with the bandits to turn the state upside down.

 Whatever it was in the beginning, what is   beyond argument today is that the state has become one of Nigeria`s most volatile states.

 Ruthless attacks

 There is hardly a week that goes by without terrorists attacking one community or the other in Zamfara. People have been killed in their homes, their farms, mosques, markets and all the other places that people cover as part   of their daily activities.

 In a country where education, especially girl-child education, is at a critical crossroads, schools have not been spared. Indeed, when in February 2021, about 300 girls were kidnapped  from the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe  by terrorists, a mortal blow was dealt to education in  the state.

A piercing documentary

 In May and again in July 2022, the hell the good people of Zamfara State have been put through in the last couple of years was laid bared in two documentaries, the first by Trust Tv and the second by the BBC. The documentaries which journeyed into the dark heart of the nightmare in Zamfara was made to warn a besieged country that the worst was yet to come.

  The documentary duly stung an otherwise slumbering government into action. But unsurprisingly, it rubbed it off the wrong way. Vaguely saying that the documentaries had the effect of glorifying terrorism, the National Broadcasting Commission which has become a considerable threat to media freedom in Nigeria was   quick to slam   fines running into millions of naira on some media houses.

 The media houses may have been fined and the documentaries on terrorism in Zamfara State vilified by the federal government, but the problems exposed by the documentaries have continued to rage unchecked.

More attacks

On Friday, September 2, 2022 while prayers were going on, terrorists fell upon a Jum`uat mosque in Zugu, Zamfara State.  When the dust settled on their iniquitous attacks, the Chief Imam of the mosque and three other worshippers lay dead.

 On Friday September 24 2022, terrorists again fell on Ruwan Jema, a community in Bukkuyum area of the state and slaughtered eighteen people. The terrorists were said to have arrived at the mosque   in motorcycles  just as Jum`uat prayer was about to start and started shooting at the worshippers indiscriminately.

  Memories are still fresh of the seven farmers that were slaughtered earlier this year in Maradun Local Government Area of the State when they defied the warning of the bandits not to go to their farms.

 Along the line, there have been aberrations. In July 2022,a national uproar had greeted the turbaning of Ada Aleru a wanted terrorist as the Sarkin Fulani of Yandoton Daji Emirate in the state.

 So overwhelmed has the government of the state been with the security situation of the state that some months ago, the state government asked  residents of the state  to defend themselves. Yet, the Zamfara State Governor was said to have donated five hilux vans to the   government of neighbouring Niger Republic for security in the country.

 The situation in Zamfara State remains troubling.  Those who are bearing the brunt of the crises are the vulnerable families who have been left at the mercy of ruthless terrorists.

 Beyond imperiling those who are courageous enough to tell the story  of  the darkness  consuming the state, the  federal government and the state government must do more to  secure lives and property in the state.

Kene Obiezu,

Twitter: @kenobiezu