About two months ago, Zamfara State Commissioner of Police Muhammad Dalijan announced the arrest of high-profile personalities for alleged collaboration with bandits. Dalijan, who spoke while hosting Thomas Parker, the officer in charge of the Counterterrorism Unit under the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), identified the collaborators to include a member of state House of Assembly and a former local government chairman.

Last week, Dalijan officially named them as Aminu Ibrahim (representing Kaura Namoda Constituency in the Zamfara State House of Assembly), former chairman of Kaura Namoda Local Government Area (Nasiru Muhammad), and District Head of Kaura Namoda (Jafaru Kamburki). He added that three district heads of Danjibga, Bukkuyum and Unguwar Gyauro in Tsafe and Bukkuyum LGAs, whose names have not been made public, are facing an investigative panel set up by the state government over similar allegations of colluding with bandits.

In March 2024, Kaduna State Gov. Uba Sani called for decisive action against informants and collaborators, adding that, “Traditional rulers, religious leaders, local government chairmen and other key stakeholders have a key role to play in assisting security agencies with intelligence.”

Similarly, Malam Dikko Radda, the governor of Katsina State, in June 2024, said informants are making the job of tackling banditry difficult. Abubakar Bello, former Niger State governor, once accused some unnamed moles in the state of divulging government classified information on security issues, resulting in attacks on communities.

Col. Garba Moyi, former Chairman of the Sokoto State Community Guards Corps Establishment Committee, once said they had arrested hundreds of informants and suppliers working with bandits, though he could not give the number of either the persons or the arrests.

And to show their daring antics, in September 2021, bandits led by Halilu Sububu and the one led by Kachalla Turji, jointly wrote a letter to Shinkafi community at the onset of the government’s restrictions on telecommunication, sale of fuel in jerry cans and suspension on markets – measures put in place to obstruct the operation of the rampaging gangs, boasting that they had up to 85 informants in the community.

In the past, measures have been taken to rein in the bandits and their collaborators. Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, as Governor of Zamfara, opted for dialogue with them. And as this option was being implemented, a bandit kingpin, Ado Aleru, was given a chieftaincy title of Sarkin Fulani by the Emir of Sabon Birni Yandoto, Aliyu Marafa.

Seriously, the challenge of informants and other collaborators is paramount because without their roles, bandits will be denied the oxygen which they depend on as a primary line of command in their killings, destruction and kidnapping. Arresting and duly prosecuting them means not only a disruption in the bandits’ operations, but saving communities and people from harm’s way.

After all, they act as supply chains through which bandits access foods and other logistics like fuel, medicines, phone chargers and SIM cards. These merchants of fortune also act as agents in the disposal of stolen items, especially rustled cattle.

Most frightening, they not only spill intelligence on their host communities on any action to be taken against the bandits; they also serve as guides to relations of kidnapped victims in delivering ransom.

Now, the unravelling of these high-profile collaborators is a devastating blow as it shows that the red heat-map of banditry is being fanned by those close to the corridors of power and at the same time in bed with perpetrators of insecurity. Therefore, it is time for security agencies to do a thorough job of monitoring the activities of these informants and other collaborators.

We at Daily Trust believe that they must be tracked and fished out from their communities as they act as tubes feeding banditry. It is like sleeping with the enemy. Technology should immediately be employed in intercepting their communication. Dismantling their criminal networks should also extend beyond the communities to other hierarchies and agencies of government as well as banking and telecom sectors.

We also call for concerted arrest and thorough investigations and prosecution of all informants and other collaborators. And to show transparency, all the processes must be made public.

No room should be created to make it look like the case of any alleged informant or collaborator is being swept under the carpet. It must be clear that the federal and state governments are committed to prosecuting them to the full extent of the law.

Moreover, the federal and state governments must realise that routing bandits’ informants and other collaborators starts with rebuilding the lost trust of ordinary citizens. They must also help ensure that the citizens earn their trust enough to divulge information such that they don’t embrace self-help through killing of suspected informants and other collaborators.

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