INVESTIGATION: How Banditry Affected Livelihood in Kagara, Niger State

INVESTIGATION: How Banditry Affected Livelihood in Kagara, Niger State

By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

Security challenges, mostly fueled as a result of banditry and kidnapping have continued hitting hard on various communities in Nigeria without sign of abating. PRNigeria’s MUKHTAR YA’U MADOBI reports how banditry still remains a thorn in the flesh of Kagara communities thereby depriving them of a good healthcare system and sources of livelihood.

Kagara is the headquarter of Rafi Local Government Area (LGA) in Niger state. A check by PRNigeria revealed that the entire 11 wards that constituted the local council are overwhelmed by insecurity with kidnapping for ransom and banditry at the forefront.

An official of Rafi LGA who spoke to our correspondent noted that there is no exact data regarding the number of people either killed, kidnapped, raped or the number of animals rustled as the attacks continued to happen regularly. He noted that, the bandits who used to wreak havoc on Kagara and its environs are camped around Shiroro and Birnin Gwari forest reserve. More than 10,000 people have now become IDPs in Rafi as a result of banditry and kidnapping.

Therefore, the residents, in an interview with PRNigeria decried how these persistent security challenges have been threatening their main sources of livelihood including agriculture, marketing and more importantly the education and healthcare system.

Bandits Force Us to Offer Skeletal Service in Kagara General Hospital – Staff

A check by PRNigeria showed that, right from Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state, it is only in Kagara where a general hospital can be found. Going further, another one will be cited only in Minna, the capital city of Niger state. However, it is disheartening to learn that this medical facility has over the years been forced to offer skeletal service to the large population trooping on a daily basis to get treatment for various illnesses. This was as a result of fear of attack by bandits who continued to hold the surrounding communities by the jugulars.

The hospital, being managed by only one medical doctor and a handful number of nurses normally operates between 08.00am to 01.00pm except for exceptional cases where the time might be a little extended beyond that. Because of the lengthy procedures attached to the process, the hospital has since abandoned the idea of conducting surgical operations as patients were no longer admitted for that purpose.

A medical staff in the facility, who craved anonymity said to PRNigeria “If it is a major problem or emergency, sometimes we used to take risks to admit the patient and resuscitate him till 08.00pm. If he is stabilized, fine and good, else the treatment continues the next day. But for the critical emergency cases, the patient will be referred to another hospital in Minna.”

The source also lamented how on several occasions, medical doctors and nurses [including Kagara indigenes] posted to the said health facility absconded citing insecurity as reason behind that decision.

“Another medical doctor was posted here but he declined because of insecurity. He said, provided it is Kagara, he would rather resign,” the source added.

Further investigation showed that there are no security forces to guard the hospital and the perimeter walls are not fenced, thus making the entire facility penetrable from every direction by all sorts of people which clearly raises security concerns.

ALSO READ: SPECIAL REPORT: How Kagara Community is Supporting Displaced Victims of Banditry to Live Normal Lives in Niger

Another hospital worker stated that they were only able to escape by the whiskers when the bandits stormed the facility at night, thus forcing them to cease night operations.

Amidst this backdrop, it was also noted that most of the structures in the hospital were in a dilapidated condition, not to mention furniture and other facilities necessarily needed for effective healthcare delivery.

“If you get inside into the children and male ward, you will be shocked about the dilapidated condition, it is unfortunate. The General hospital for Rafi Local Government Area didn’t warrant to be in such condition.”

We Pay Levies to Bandits for Allowing Us to Work on Our Farms – Farmer

Agriculture is another sector that is badly being affected in Kagara as a result of insecurity. This has undoubtedly led to the deficit in the quantity of agricultural supplies thereby leading to food crises. This is not unconnected to the rustling of cattle by the bandits, who were very vital in assisting farmers in land cultivation.

Some of the residents who spoke to PRNigeria decried that people resorted to paying taxes to the bandits in order to allow them smooth access to their farms and cultivate. These taxes are being paid not only once but in batches right from the process of land preparation, planting, harvesting and transportation of the yields back to home. The bandits were also in the habit of confiscating agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, chemicals, seeds and farm implements from the farmers which can later be retrieved in an exchange for money.

It is worrisome that these bandits will still later abduct these farmers thereby forcing them to sell the agricultural produce and send the proceeds to them as ransom to regain their freedom.

Idris Bawa is a farmer who is presently residing in Kagara after been dislodged from his ancestral community in Katunga village by bandit-terrorists. While discussing with PRNigeria reporter, he narrated his ordeal on how agriculture was becoming a difficult venture for them due to incessant bandits’ attacks in spite of tax payment.

“When it is time to harvest, they will ask you to pay money for that and you will also pay an additional bill for transporting it to home.

If you refuse to pay, they won’t allow you to harvest the crops, or they will set it ablaze whether it is maize, rice or any other. That is what they do.” Bawa said.

In a similar vein, a Rafi LGA official also noted that the high cost of farm inputs is also a contributing factor to the decline of farming activities in the area.

Most of our Schools are Now Shut Down – Official

On the other hand, findings by PRNigeria also revealed that out of the 127 public primary schools in Rafi LGA, not less than 78 were shut down as a result of persistent bandits’ attacks. This was confirmed during an interview with an official from the Planning Research and Statistics (PRS) Section of Rafi Local Government Education Authority.

According to him, only schools cited along the roadsides are operational in most cases, while those located within villages were closed down. A situation that tremendously continued to affect the teaching and learning process within the communities.

He said; “When they chase people out of villages, they set some of these schools ablaze. Presently there are five schools that were burnt down by them [bandits] while some that remain closed for a long time have been gutted by fire that emanated from the surrounding bushes.”

Like Primary Schools, Like Secondary Schools

Also, seven out of the fifteen secondary schools in Kagara are not operating, courtesy of lingering security challenges bedeviling the community. Schools located in remote areas are the ones mostly at the receiving ends of this calamity.

This has evidently caused overcrowding in the only two operating secondary schools presently operating in Kagara town. This was confirmed to PRNigeria by Kabir Yunusa, the principal of Salihu Tanko Day Secondary School, Kagara, one of the overcrowded schools while the other one being Ahmadu Attahiru Secondary School, Kagara.

It can be recalled that Government Science College, Kagara has been shut down for a longer time after bandits invaded the school and abducted no fewer than 280 students in February 2021. The school is presently being occupied by security forces where it serves as a Military base.

Quantity of Agricultural Commodities Drop in the Market – Resident

Baba Jibo, a resident in Kagara also revealed to PRNigeria how this insecurity has affected the quantity of agricultural commodities being traded at Kagara market. Prior to this awful situation, marketers from neighboring Niger used to visit Kagara market and buy trailers of grains including maize, the source stated.

“Every Tuesday, about 30-40 trailers of maize will be exported from Kagara, but with this insecurity, people were not even allowed to farm, not to talk of even conveying the produce to the market.” Jibo added.

It was learnt that there is serious decline in the business, as it is now difficult to even load up to three to four trailers of grains, thus causing decline in revenue generation. According to Baba Jibo, it is unfortunate that a large number of the sellers are doing that in order to raise money for ransom payment to the bandits in order to secure freedom of their relatives.

FG Knows Best How to End this Carnage – Rafi LGA Official

While responding to PRNigeria on the security situation in Kagara, Mohammed Mohammed, the Chief of Staff to the Rafi LGA Chairman, decried on how the continuous ugly trends of security challenges have almost affected every community in the 11 wards of entire Rafi LGA.  When asked on how to end these killings, Mohammed emphasized that the federal government holds the key to restoring normalcy in these troubled zones as it commands all the security architectures including Military, Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the likes.

However, he lamented on how the difficult terrains of the area may hinder the success of military operation in the area.

“Our terrain is a difficult one, we expect the army to eliminate these bandits during the dry season and now we are in the rainy season, we have a lot of rivers, grassland, thick forest, valleys and mountains.

“These bandits are cattle herders, they mastered this terrain very well, they can ride on tall mountains with their motorcycles, they can speed on farm ridges, they can even cross rivers with motorcycles, and the military are not familiar with the terrain.” Mohammed added.

He therefore urged the government to use all the necessary methods including deploying technology to trace and take the fight to the bandits’ enclaves who are having permanent camps in Dansadau forest of Zamfara axis and Shiroro LGA in Niger state.

PRNigeria gathered from locals that residents of some communities have now learnt to live with the bandits. They provide them with basic life necessities and cook for them under duress in exchange for their safety.

This report is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation