Chaos in Kankara

Cattle rustling has over the years remained the most teething problem bedeviling the people of Katsina, most especially those residing in the Southern part of the state. The affected communities are located in Faskari, Safana, Funtua, Batsari,  Sabuwa and Jibia, and hardly a day goes by without a reported case. Rustlers invade communities, kill  and […]

Cattle rustling has over the years remained the most teething problem bedeviling the people of Katsina, most especially those residing in the Southern part of the state.
The affected communities are located in Faskari, Safana, Funtua, Batsari,  Sabuwa and Jibia, and hardly a day goes by without a reported case.
Rustlers invade communities, kill  and maim  innocent women and children, burn houses and foodstuffs, commit rape and of recent they kidnap women alongside the rustling of animals.
The rustlers throng these communities and villages mostly riding on motorcycles, shooting sporadically at unsuspecting persons before they make away with the animals.
In one of their daring attacks  last year, about 103 persons were said to have been killed in a single days  attack. This shows how devastating their attacks can be.
The prevalence of such criminal activities has greatly affected the economic and social status of the affected communities, thereby compounding their woes.
Most of the rustled cattle are used for farming thereby affecting farmers output, as they can no longer afford them for ploughing and other farming activities ,just as their dairy and meat processed are  to earn a living.
Another alarming dimension to rustling of recent in the affected communities, is the involvement of children mostly between the ages of 10-14 years.
Informed by this disturbing trend, and given  the inability of the security agencies to adequately protect the people, the communities came together in a self help effort and established the Isan Gona vigilante group, which had restored some level of sanity to the most affected communities.
The  group  specialises in apprehending and administering local justice to suspected cattle rustlers and other bandits around the Southern part of the state.
Over the years the acceptability of the group by the communities increased, given  their activities, which had curtailed to some appreciable level the cases of banditry in the areas.
However, last weeks killing of the leader of  Dan Isan Gona vigilante group  Adamu Koshe and  his in-law Garba, in a night raid by unknown gunmen in Kankara town ,is causing serious tensions over the safety of the people in the area.
Koshe who was arrested few weeks to the last general election following a summary killing of 11  suspected thieves at Yartalata community by his men, had been in detention for over six months and was just granted bail by a court and released before his death.
The deceased son, Gambo, said the assailants came on several motorbikes shooting sporadically during the attack which  made people flee for safety, before they broke down the deceased gates and strangled him to death at about 10:30pm. Guns were fired all over the room just as they tried to set the house on fire.
His in-law who came to congratulate him on his release, was equally killed alongside him in cold blood.
Following the news of his assassination hundreds of members of the group brandishing various types of weapons, barricaded the main roads in protest of the killings.
Chanting different war songs they called  for the removal of the district head whom  they allege was behind the ordeal  of increased cattle rustling in the area by giving protection to accused suspects. They equally alleged that Miyetti Allah officials and some  security personnel are not helping the situation as well.
This damning allegation was rather confirmed by the state governor Aminu Masari when  he acknowledged  that security reports before him have fingered  several security officials.
Masari said information indicated that influential persons including opinion leaders have hands in the theft of animals, and hence are frustrating the on going fight against rustling.
“We are getting information  which shows that some influential persons in the state have hands in cattle rustling, and hence are frustrating efforts to combat it. It is necessary for all of us to name and shame them, and I am assuring all that whoever has a hand in this, regardless of his status, wont go scot free,” he added.
Masari, during a visit to the deceased’s family, promised to deal with whosoever had a hand in his death, no matter his position, age or affiliation, noting that thorough investigation shall be undertaken to get to the bottom of the matter.
Some of the immediate steps taking by the governor was the immediate removal of the DPO and other senior security officers of the town.
The group’s second in command Abdulrauf Liman said this assassination is a handiwork of persons who are after weakening the structure of the group, so as to continue their misdemeanours and compounding the hardship faced by the populace.
He said  this recent killing has brought to four so far the number of high ranking members of the group that have been killed, adding that “we are not afraid of these thieves, we know them and can flush them out. All we want is for government to allow us go into the dreaded Rugu forest to hunt them.” Muhammadu Lawal, District Head of Kankara is hospitalised in Katsina, and efforts by Daily Trust to interview him were unsuccessful.

For the Magaji Jino of Garagi town and village head of Yartsamiyya, Alhaji Jaafaru Bello, who narrowly escaped  assassination by the rustlers, life has never been the same following the increased activities of these bandits.
According to him, the botched attacked forced him to relocate to Dutsinma town to continue life afresh, having abandoned his house, farmlands and people.
“For the past ten months I have relocated over several attempt on my life and that of my family. They attacked my house at about 2.10 pm in the day light shooting all over, I luckily escaped by the grace of God.  They normally come on motorcycles with three on each with over one  hundred bikes.They burnt many houses, shops, took away animals and up till now no succour has come our way,” he said. 
The only outpost there had three policemen which is grossly inadequate “we need an army base station and an operations office that will sweep the forest. Most of the youths in our towns have found it a safe haven to move into the forest and live, coming to town and returning on daily basis. All the thieves are known as well as their parents, we only need committed operations to rescue us. The governors must show openness and a readiness to tackle the issues.
“We  stay beside the forest, and most of our people live  by rearing animals, its a yearly thing that migrant cattle herders every year around this time return to camp in the place. This year they increased in number, because at the other end of Kaduna, the on going war launched there has pushed the thieves towards this end. This is a disturbing trend because they usually frighten us by coming to the towns and returning on daily basis. The rustling is  persisting as well,” he said.
“In my village alone 37 persons have so far been killed and many women kidnapped.In terms of animals we once had  hundreds of bulls used for ploughing, but now we can’t boast of four,” he added. 
On the involvement of traditional title holders, Bello said it will be a great dishonesty on the part of a leader to be involved in such.Of what benefit is it that a leader should allow himself to fall so low to cheat on the people entrusted on him by God, as he will surely account for his deeds.
“The truth of the matter is that there is high suspicion around that some of the rulers are being  used or their children used to commit such atrocities in Kankara town,” he said. 
He said  fulani leaders at one time confessed to all at an enlarged meeting that they know among themselves all those who are engaged in all these rustling activities. With these we can attest to the fact that there is no single fulani household that doesn’t have one rustler or the other.
However, Hamisu Tunis, Chairman of   Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), dismissed the allegation saying that there is no way a sensible group like theirs can support this kind of situation. However, a few disgruntled elements among their members  have caused us to be disregarded in the society, following their involvement in cattle rustling, saying that “the state can bear us witness given the support we are giving them, especially with regards to valuable information.
“We have assured government of our readiness to align  with them in the ongoing fight,  and have equally called on our people to hand over suspects to officials to face wrath of the law,” he said. 
For the state police command the allegation of their involvement is base less, and it asked all those making such allegations to come forth with information  and names of officers involved in such.
The state commissioner of police Usman Ali Abdullahi said there is no going back on the war against cattle rustlers, which the command is doing all it can to address. To this end, he said no fewer than 19 anti-cattle rustling camps with 290 officers and men for their day to day operations, have been established to tackle the situation which have  provided excellent results so far.
In three months alone, 102 suspected cattle rustlers were arrested, many have been prosecuted and are currently serving various jail terms, just as the others are awaiting trial.