Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara State, has said the state will give bandits two cows for every rifle they surrender.
Matawalle made the announcement when he hosted the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu; Director General, Department of State Security Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, and other heads of Intelligence Units of military and police.
The governor said his government does not want to give money to the bandits, so that they will not buy new weapons.
He disclosed that the state government has informed repentant bandits to disband all their camps in the forest.
“For every rifle submitted by a repentant bandit, there would be compensation of two cows,” he said.
“We don’t want to give them money, so they wouldn’t use the money to purchase new weapons.
“We said we will compensate them with cows, they are Fulani and they need the cows to advance their economic interest.
“We also told the repentant bandits that all “Dabas” (Camps) in the forests should be disbanded. We won’t accept a situation where the bandits will disarm and then go back to the forest and be staying in these camps or Dabas .
“We asked them to either come to town and be reintegrated into the society or be given economic empowerment where they are, so that they would start a new life.
“Most of them are residing in forests under the shades of trees and inside caves. That is why we came up with RUGA policy to help them.”
The governor, who described the state as the epicentre of armed banditry in the country, stated that the whole North-west and the country in general will be safe, if security operatives can deal with the menace.
