In a scathing critique of Nigeria’s faltering fight against armed banditry, renowned security expert and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has demanded that military personnel in Zamfara State immediately dismantle bandit networks without waiting for directives from Abuja.
Describing the insecurity in the state as a “decade-long nightmare,” Shinkafi accused troops of shirking their duties while bandits ravage communities, killing, kidnapping and displacing thousands.
In a press release issued by the National Secretariat of Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development in Abuja, Shinkafi, a former governorship candidate in Zamfara and ex-national secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), cited Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
He lambasted security agencies for their sluggish response to bandit attacks, insisting that such excuses as “awaiting orders from Abuja” were untenable and contrary to military doctrine.
“You are deployed to secure your communities – do not be afraid to take out any criminal or enemy,” Shinkafi quoted Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa as recently telling troops during an address to Operation Enduring Peace in Jos, Plateau State. Musa, according to Shinkafi, vowed to court-martial commanders – from sector to platoon levels – who fail to act, emphasising a policy to “reward hard work and punish indolence.”
Shinkafi urged Gen. Musa to extend this no-nonsense stance to Zamfara, where bandits operate from just 50-70 camps with fewer than 20,000 fighters across 14 local government areas, as detailed in a report by a committee chaired by former Inspector General of Police M.D. Abubakar under the previous administration of Governor Bello Matawalle.
The escalation of banditry in Zamfara, Shinkafi said, has left residents at the mercy of marauders who impose crippling levies, rustle cattle, rape, abduct for ransom, and destroy properties worth billions of naira.
He praised incumbent Governor Dauda Lawal’s proactive measures, including the procurement of cutting-edge technologies like environmental remote sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) to pinpoint bandit hideouts. Lawal has also supplied 150 operational vehicles to security outfits, mobilised 2,000 Civilian Joint Task Force members and hunters from Borno and Yobe states, and bolstered the state’s Community Protection Guard (Assakarawa) with vehicles, motorcycles, licensed weapons, and logistics across all local governments.
Despite these efforts – which formed the core of Lawal’s 2023 campaign – Shinkafi decried the military’s reluctance to act on intelligence shared by the state government. “Troops claim they are waiting for orders while hapless citizens are slaughtered and kidnapped,” he fumed, calling for urgent synergy between the military and Zamfara authorities. “Banditry can end in two months if there’s collaboration. What is lacking is political will.”
Shinkafi reserved sharp criticism for “influential politicians from the state in Abuja” whom he accused of politicising insecurity to undermine Lawal’s administration and advance their ambitions. He highlighted the August 16, 2025, by-election in Kaura Namoda South State House of Assembly constituency as a stark example of “garrison politics.”
Despite over 7,000 security personnel, more than 50 armored carriers, and hundreds of vehicles deployed under federal oversight – including an Assistant Inspector General of Police for the Sokoto Zone, three Commissioners of Police, and officers from the Department of State Services – bandits terrorised the six affected wards of Banga, Danisa, Dogon Kade, Sakajiki, Kuryar Madaro, and Kyambarawa.
In Banga, 35 residents were killed post-ransom payment, with a bandit hideout mere kilometers from a military camp in Sakajiki – yet no action was taken. Danisa Ward saw bandit kingpin Dansadiya extort ₦56 million in levies for farming rights, while Kuryar Madaro suffered mass abductions of women and children. Over 20,000 people were displaced across the wards, Shinkafi revealed, as security forces prioritized “capturing the seat for the APC.
