The North asked for it. Northern Elders Progressive Group (NEPG) asked for it. The results are rushing in speedily. And in good measure. Pressed together, overflowing and overwhelming.
The North was in the forefront of this awful advocacy. Stranger than fiction, perhaps! Its aggressive leaders were all over us. Effectively occupying our choked space.
They shouted to high heavens. Protesting to everyone that came their way. Furious and puffing their views into our delicate, bare faces. That was on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.
The North West is their typical case study. NEPG coordinator in the zone, Yusuf Abubakar, let us into their collective mind-set. He insisted governors of the region must dialogue with bandits. But we call them terrorists.
His hard push: “It is better for a governor to spend his resources on saving lives than spending billions on condolences. One life is far more important than any political gesture.”
He searched around the world to secure our conviction. He remained unrelenting: “Even powerful nations have negotiated with groups like the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the Houthis.” He was emphatic: “Negotiation is not weakness. It is about saving lives.”
To those governors who boasted to know the terrorists’ movements and locations. But refused to share intelligence with security agencies, Abubakar vent out his rage: “It is unbecoming of a leader to say he knows the movements of criminals but does nothing with the information. Such propaganda is irresponsible.”
Responding to the northern elders’ clarion call. Sheikh Ahmad Gumi again came proudly on board. That is his familiar terrain. He won’t miss the rare opportunity. He hurriedly jumped into the boat.
He tactically positioned himself for a role. And he did play a prominent one to secure a “peace deal” with terrorists in Katsina State. To his best ability and reckoning, he did it creditably.
The fragile peace was brokered on Sunday in Faskari. Between residents, traditional leaders and a wanted bandit kingpin, Ado Aliero. He came with dozens of armed herders. They recklessly showcased their superior weapons.
Glaringly. They came from a position of strength and advantage. They must have dictated the tune, tone and time of the parley. Let’s use this SaharaReporters as a loose guide. In a Facebook post, Gumi warned:
“Some people who don’t want peace, will provoke them (terrorists) again by attacking them. It’s very important to educate them that they are used by capitalising on their ignorance and zeal to vengeance.”
Imagine the wild audacity of Aliero. He was excited. And he displayed it: “Since we started having peace meetings, people have never gathered in such large numbers like this. This meeting gives me hope that, Insha Allah, peace will be restored, not only in Faskari and Katsina State, but across the entire country.
“Until justice is served to everyone, the President should allow justice to take its course, and at the state level, leaders should also do the needful. Why do they publicise only what we do to the world, but never publicise what is done to us?”
Damn it! In a tone of finality, Aliero vowed: “There will be no peace if security agencies do not also stop killing our people.” That’s how deep we have been debased, degraded and demeaned as a people. No wonder, the peace struck couldn’t last any distance.
In their own element, the terrorists made good their threat. They responded to the “peace accord” in Katsina State the following day. It started in a mosque in Zamfara State. Stretched through a thick forest of many kilometres. And ended on a mountain that cuts across Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna states.
Daily Trust covered the “conference.” Its report was short. All the same intriguing, frightening and frightful. It even sets an agenda for the next dialogue: “Bandits yesterday (Monday) abducted 43 worshippers from a mosque in Gidan Turbe village, Tsafe Local Government, Zamfara State.
“They were also said to have kidnapped 12 persons at Godai village, Bukkuyum Local Government, on Sunday.
“Both incidents occurred at a time community leaders and some armed groups in neighbouring Katsina State had entered into a peace deal.
“Security experts said, to effectively address insecurity, state governments in the North West must collaborate against bandits.
“The Zamfara mosque attack, Daily Trust gathered, occurred around 5.30am during prayer. The gunmen were said to have surrounded the mosque and whisked away 43 worshippers towards Gahori Mountain.
“Gahori Mountain, in Tsafe LG, is situated in a thick forest that spreads from Zamfara through parts of Kebbi State and down to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State.
“The forest is said to be an enclave of different bandits’ groups operating across Zamfara and parts of Sokoto and Kebbi states.
“Locals alleged that almost all the famous bandit leaders, including Bello Turji, Ado Aliero, Dogo Gide, Dan Isuhu and Black, have their enclaves around Gahori Mountain.
“Residents, who spoke to Daily Trust yesterday (Monday), said the attack on the mosque had left several communities in Tsafe and environs in confusion and despair.”
Anonymous: “The moment I saw the gun toting bandits at the peace meeting, I knew it was a big joke.” That’s the bloody peace deal the North asked for.
They held dialogue with the terrorists. And this happened. What next? Wonders shall never end. Particularly, in this our eerie, weird, jinxed clime of ours.
Let their dialogue go on. There’s no need halting the beating of the drums. Make it even harder and louder. No stopping the queer music. Perhaps, there may be a dim light at the end of the tunnel.
So many lapses trail these so-called, negotiations, dialogue, talks, deals et al. They largely appear as make-believe. You hardly can spot any serious seriousness in them.
Many gaps, huge gulf are deliberately left to linger and fester. Unchecked, unrestrained and unattended. No expertise. No finesse, sleight or dexterity in handling. Awkward and absurd. They are being undertaken carelessly and recklessly.
In a peace negotiation, deal or dialogue. Especially if it involves arms. All precautions must be seen to have applied. No stone ought to be left unturned.
All negotiators must be disarmed. None must be armed. They must not carry arms, no matter how “light” or “small.”
How can there be a meaningful negotiation, when a party is armed to its teeth and the other is armless? That’s far from being a level playing ground. It’s uneven, bumpy and potholed.
The result can’t surely be free, fair and just. It won’t be otherwise but outright deceit. If at all you must negotiate with terrorists. All rules, written and unwritten. Conventional and unconventional. Known and unknown must be strictly adhered to.
One of the majors is disarmament. It’s key to any peaceful negotiation. To evoke trust and confidence. All arms must lay aside. They should not be cited anywhere near venue of the parley.
None of these rules was on the table. No enduring peace can come out of such. No genuine deal can be secured under that uneasy circumstance. It will only stand on nothingness. And the result is monumental emptiness.
Exactly what happened in Tsafe and Bukkuyum local governments that Sunday morning. You shouldn’t expect anything meaningful in the Katsina State peace deal either.
Let’s guard our loins. And get our acts straight next time. That’s if all parties are serious about the parley. If not, let’s call it quits. And make a firm resolve: True federation; restructuring; Parliamentary government is it!
The choice is ours. The terrorists have already picked their choice: Terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, murder, rape and their deadly ilk.
Best time to apply a discerning heart.
