2023 Dialogue with bandits to allow hitch-free voting in Zamfara – Hashim to community leaders, govt

2023 Dialogue with bandits to allow hitch-free voting in Zamfara – Hashim to community leaders, govt. Dr. Ahmad Hashim, the African Democratic Congress’ (ADC’s) candidate for governor, has encouraged the Zamfara State Government to assist local leaders in bargaining with bandits to provide hitch-free voting in the general elections in 2023.

In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST, he made this statement while they were at the party secretariat in the state capital of Gusau.

He said that because the government and Islamic clerics could negotiate a truce with the bandits, it would also be able to do so when the general elections for 2023 are taking place.

Hashim observed that because the bandits primarily operate in rural regions and live and dine among the villagers, they are accessible because the locals are quite familiar with them.

There is no question that the bandits operating in the territories are locals; just visit any hamlet in the state and check it out for yourself, he said.

My father was abducted a while back, and we knew who arranged it. That individual is also from our town, and my father pointed at him and said that he was the one who took him.

Hashim stressed that the bandits operating in the state are natives of Zamfara State in response to the assertion that they come from other states.

In order to resolve the issue of insecurity, he said, a local strategy must be used since only the communities know the bandits, and the bandits know the communities.

The contender for governor claimed that although the state administration started the process of reaching a peace agreement and reconciliation with the bandits, it took the incorrect path.

Hashim clarified that the state administration did not have more extensive discussions before announcing the peace deal and the bandit reconciliation process.

The legislator pointed out that residents must be included for any peace agreement and reconciliation process to work, something he said the government did not do.

He asserted that no community where bandits operate does so without the participation of one or more residents.

The peace agreement and reconciliation with the bandits were started by community leaders since they are familiar with them; the government can only provide assistance.

“The administration did not follow the necessary channels,” he stated, explaining why the peace agreement and reconciliation process failed.

He said that the state government and the system’s security agencies had been defeated by the bandits as a result of their disregard of the locals who were meant to have served as their guides.

The whole world is aware that Zamfara State is a haven for banditry, yet the federal government was unable to station even one fighter plane there, according to him, underlining that both the federal and state governments have failed in the field of security.

The fighter planes only sometimes fly into the state, remain for a few hours, and then depart. There is tranquility every time the fighter aircraft land, he claimed.

He said that the state administration should help the local leaders talk to the bandits so that voters may turn up in large numbers and cast their ballots without feeling intimidated.

“We should not forget that the majority of the bandits also had voter identification cards and would be at the polling places, but to sabotage if discussions with the bandits’ leaders were not established,” he said in his conclusion.