Katsina’s Bandit Amnesty: Spitting On Soldiers’ Graves

The Katsina State Government wants to release 70 suspected bandits as part of a “peace deal.” Let me say this plainly: this is madness dressed up as policy.

While our soldiers are dying in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger State fighting these same criminals, Katsina wants to throw open the prison gates and declare peace in our time. The state Commissioner for Internal Security, Nasir Muazu, says this is like “wartime prisoner exchange. ”Really? Prisoner exchange?

In a proper war, you exchange soldiers, uniformed combatants fighting for recognised authorities. What Katsina is doing is releasing kidnappers, murderers, and rapists who’ve terrorised communities for years. These aren’t prisoners of war. They’re common criminals who happen to carry AK-47s instead of cutlasses.

The leaked letter from the Ministry of Justice—marked “SECRET” because they knew Nigerians would be outraged reveals the whole charade. Forty-eight suspects are facing banditry charges. Another 22 inmates are in various high courts. All to be released because bandits promised to be good boys this time. How many times will we fall for this scam?

Former Governor Aminu Masari tried peace deals. He even had bandits swear on the Holy Qur’an to renounce violence. What happened? They went straight back to the forests and resumed kidnapping. Masari eventually admitted defeat: “I don’t negotiate with bandits again.” He learned that these are thieves without ideology, criminals who understand only force.

Former Zamfara governor Bello Matawalle followed the same script. Peace talks, amnesty programs, dialogue initiatives all of it collapsed. By September 2021, Matawalle publicly declared the bandits had betrayed every agreement.

So why does Katsina think it will be different this time? The state government claims 1,000 abducted persons were released through these negotiations across 15 local governments. That sounds impressive until you ask: how many of those people were kidnapped in the first place because bandits knew they could get away with it? How many families sold everything they owned, land, cattle, jewelry, to raise ransoms of 5 million, 10 million naira?

I want the Katsina government to look those families in the eye and explain why the men who destroyed their lives deserve freedom.

Imagine you’re a farmer in Faskari or Sabuwa. Bandits invade your village at 3 AM. They killed your brother. They take your daughter. You spend three months begging, borrowing, and selling your farm to raise the ransom. You get her back traumatised, possibly pregnant, definitely changed forever.

Then the state government announces it’s releasing the same bandits because of a “peace accord.”How would you feel?

The Ministry of Justi ce justified this release as “one of the conditions precedent for the continuance of the peace accord deal.” That phrase tells you everything. The government has made itself hostage to criminals. The bandits dictate terms. The state complies. This isn’t governance, it’s capitulation.

And let’s be brutally honest about what message this sends. To our military, it says: “The soldiers you’re fighting alongside who died last month in Katsina? Their sacrifice meant nothing. We’re releasing the enemy anyway.” To communities, it says: “Your trauma doesn’t matter. Reconciliation with killers is more important than justice for victims.” To other bandits across the northwest, it says: “Kidnap more. Kill more. The government will eventually negotiate.”

Defence Minister Christopher Musa recently warned Sheikh Gumi and others who romanticise bandits: “A friend of a thief is a thief.” He directly challenged the narrative that bandits are “our brothers” who society can’t function without. Musa is right. These criminals have displaced thousands, destroyed livelihoods, and turned vast areas of the northwest into killing fields.

You cannot defeat terrorism while treating terrorists as misunderstood victims. You cannot end banditry by rewarding bandits with amnesty.

The minister said anyone defending or excusing criminals through words, influence, or silence shares responsibility for their actions. By that standard, the Katsina State Government has blood on its hands. Because when these 70 released suspects return to the forests (and they will), when they resume kidnapping (and they will), every single victim can trace their suffering back to this decision.

Nasir Muazu said  the release will “consolidate the peace deal.” But peace built on releasing criminals isn’t peace it’s a temporary ceasefire before the next round of violence.

Katsina remains one of the epicenters of banditry in Nigeria precisely because of decisions like this. The state has become a laboratory for failed policies. Dialogue that leads nowhere. An amnesty that produces more attacks. Peace deals that collapse within months.

Meanwhile, in states where governors have stopped negotiating and backed the military fully, we’re seeing progress. Zamfara’s new leadership abandoned Matawalle’s peace charade and went on the offensive. Results are starting to show. Crime doesn’t pay here.

Katsina needs to learn from these examples instead of repeating the same mistakes.

Here’s what should happen instead. First, suspend this ridiculous release program immediately. Those 70 suspects should face trial. If the evidence is weak, the courts will discharge them. If they’re guilty, they belong in prison. That’s how justice works.

Second, invest the energy spent on “peace deals” into supporting military operations. Give our troops better equipment, intelligence, and logistical support. Third, strengthen community defense initiatives. Arm and train local vigilantes legally so communities can defend themselves while waiting for security forces.

And finally, it is crucial that the government must stop treating banditry as a negotiable conflict. These are criminals, not rebel movements with political grievances. You don’t make peace with kidnappers. You arrest them.

Some will argue that dialogue is better than endless bloodshed. I understand the impulse. Nobody wants perpetual war. But dialogue only works when both sides genuinely want peace. Bandits have proven repeatedly that they don’t. They use negotiations to regroup, rearm, and plan the next attack. Every peace deal is just an operational pause before they resume terror.

The families burying loved ones killed by bandits don’t want peace deals. They want justice. The parents whose children were abducted and returned damaged don’t want reconciliation with the kidnappers. They want accountability. The communities that have been terrorised for years don’t want dialogue with criminals. They want security.

General Musa said the choice is clear: “Stand with the law and the nation, or be counted among those enabling criminality.”So where does Katsina stand?

Right now, by releasing these suspects, the state government stands with the bandits. They’re enabling the very criminality that has made life hell for millions of residents. They’re betraying every victim, every soldier, every family that has suffered.

And when not if, but when these released bandits return to their old ways, the Katsina State Government will own that failure completely.

This peace deal won’t work. It never has. It never will. The only language bandits understand is force. Until Katsina learns that lesson, the violence will continue. The kidnappings will persist. And more innocent people will pay the price for their government’s delusions.