Rifle for Cows: Gov Matawalle moves to end banditry in Zamfara

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has announced that bandits should surrender their rifles in exchange for cows in a bid to stem the rising tide of insecurity in the state.

The governor made the announcement while hosting the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, Director General, Department of State Security Services, Yusuf Bichi and other heads of Intelligence Units of military and police.

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 are Fulani and 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.”

He described Zamfara as the epicentre of armed banditry in the country, and called on security operatives to do more to contain the threat.