The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle has promised a gift of two cows in exchange for every one AK47 rifle surrendered by any repentant bandits in the state.The Governor made the promise when he hosted the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, the Director General, Department of State Security (DSS), Yusuf Bichi and other security heads in the state.
According to the governor, the state government decided to offer cows in exchange for rifles because the animal would advance the economic interests of any repentant bandit.
Matawalle also added that they don’t want to give the bandits money because they will use it to purchase new weapons.
He said, “For every rifle submitted by a repentant bandit, there would be compensation of two cows. 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 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 Zamfara state as the epicentre of armed banditry in the country, stated that the whole North West and the country in general would be secured if the security operatives can deal with the menace.