Questions Trail Peace Meeting as ‘Hired Armed Men’ Allegedly Attend on Behalf of Bandits in Katsina

Additional reports from Katsina Times

Fresh doubts have emerged over the credibility of the recent peace and reconciliation meeting between armed Fulani groups and authorities in Batagarawa and Charanci Local Government Areas of Katsina State.

While earlier reports indicated that the armed Fulani groups pledged to end kidnappings and violent attacks for ransom in the two LGAs, fresh findings by Katsina Times suggest that some of the supposed “bandits” who attended the peace meeting may have been hired individuals posing as the real armed groups.

According to Katsina Times reporters who covered the event, several attendees openly admitted that they were “hired” to fill the venue and appear as part of the negotiating bandits.

“We were hired and given guns just to come here and make the place look full. Some of us are not real bandits,” one of the attendees reportedly told Katsina Times during a side interview.

The reporters observed that most of the armed participants were young men carrying rifles, and that the meeting lacked the seriousness and organization typical of previous high-level peace negotiations held in the state.

The Katsina Times team further reported that when they questioned the armed men about the whereabouts of their “real comrades” who usually launch attacks in Batagarawa, Charanci, and Dutsinma areas, the men replied that many of their colleagues had stayed back in the forest because they had doubts about the meeting and did not trust the process.

“Many of our brothers in the forest have questions about this peace talk, and since they didn’t get clear answers, they refused to come,” one of the armed men was quoted as saying.

The meeting, which took place in Wurma forest in Kurfi LGA, was attended by local government chairmen Hon. Yahaya Lawal Kawo of Batagarawa and Hon. Ibrahim Sani Koda of Charanci (represented by his deputy, Hon. Aminu Hassan Yan Albasa), along with several traditional and community leaders.

The Fulani representatives, led by Alhaji Usman Ruga Kachalla, Sani Mohindinge, and Alhaji Shu’aibu, had earlier pledged to release kidnapped victims from Batagarawa, Charanci, and Dutsinma areas without ransom and to stop further attacks.

However, the Katsina Times report concluded that “there appears to be more than meets the eye” (lauje cikin nadi) regarding the authenticity of those who participated in the peace meeting.

More details are expected to emerge as investigations continue into the claims that some of the supposed “bandits” at the peace gathering were in fact hired individuals.

Source: Katsina Times (www.katsinatimes.com), Facebook: Katsina City News / Jaridar Taskar Labarai, and other social media platforms.