Expelling Pastoralists From Forests That Kill, By Jibrin Ibrahim
What is clear is that we need to develop a comprehensive policy response to the non-governance of our forests and the idea of registering its users cannot be dismissed. Such a measure should however be well planned, with realistic timelines developed; and it can only work as a national, rather than State, plan.
My column of September 12, 2016 was entitled “Forests that Kill and Destroy: Rural Banditry in Northern Nigeria.” There, I was reporting on a seminar organised by the Centre for Democratic Development and Training (CEDDERT) in Zaria, where research findings on the senseless massacre and destruction emanating from the dreaded Kuyanbana and Kamuku forests were presented. The researchers, Massoud Omar and Abubakar Siddique Mohammed had studied how bandits and criminal gangs occupied the forests and were causing havoc in the surrounding States of Kaduna (Birnin Gwari), Zamfara (Dansadau) and Katsina (Sabuwa). The forest had provided a base for criminal gangs initially focused on cattle rustling, from where they were wreaking havoc on the affected communities. Most of the cattle in the area had already been rustled at that time. From cattle rustling, the gangs have moved into kidnapping for ransom, mass theft, arson and the mass killing of innocent villagers.