An growing variety of states in Nigeria’s northwest have imposed bans on the motion of bikes in an try to sort out a current spate of lethal assaults carried out by legal gangs generally known as bandits.
The armed bandits sometimes use bikes to flee after finishing up their assaults, the most recent of which was in Kaduna state final Sunday the place a minimum of 34 folks had been killed together with two troopers.
Greater than 200 properties had been additionally destroyed within the assault on 4 villages, Kaduna officers mentioned in a press release.
In a separate incident on Sunday, motorcycle-riding bandits carried out a raid in a distant village of Zamfara state — additionally within the northwestern a part of the nation — killing 16 folks.
Every week earlier than that, one other armed gang killed 11 safety personnel, together with seven policemen and 4 vigilantes, in assaults in central and northwestern Nigeria.
Native authorities have mentioned that lethal assaults and abductions have intensified.
Will banning motorbikes cease the assaults?
Nigeria’s bandit violence has its origins within the clashes between farmers and nomadic cattle herders
Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states are hoping the bike ban will assist scale back the spate of lethal assaults.
Katsina state governor’s safety adviser, Ibrahim Ahmed, informed DW that actions of motorbikes within the state have been restricted between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“Truly in Katsina state his excellency has put in place government order that curtail the actions of motorcyclists particularly within the frontline native authorities areas, taking into consideration that the most important device the legal parts are utilizing in perpetrating their crimes are the bikes,” Ahmed mentioned.
Sokoto state police spokesperson, ASP Sanusi Abubakar, informed DW that cops there are on excessive alert to clamp down on the motion of those bandits.
In a single day banditry
“The state authorities has enacted the containment order which was enforced by Nigeria police and different safety companies right here in Sokoto State to ban the motion of motorbike,” Abubakar revealed.
Ibrahim Ahmed from the Katsina state governor’s offoce defined that the ban in his state is crucial as a result of “a lot of the legal actions are perpetrated within the night time.”
“The federal government is pondering of reviewing the technique as a result of you must evolve a knowledge-based strategy with the intention to sort out all these. Because the crime evolves, you place in mechanisms to comprise it,” Ahmed mentioned.
In accordance with Sokoto’s police spokesperson: “the measures taken by the state authorities in collaboration with safety companies has yielded optimistic outcome to this point, and we’re nonetheless on high of the problems to make sure the security of lives and property within the state.”
Did earlier bans work?
In 2011, bikes had been banned in Nigeria’s northern Borno state, a stronghold of militant Islamist motion Boko Haram, to forestall drive-by assaults by the group.
Boko Haram has used gunmen on motorbikes to assassinate safety officers, civilians and politicians as a result of the bikes present a quick technique of escape.
Borno’s neighboring state, Yobe, in 2012 outlawed bike using at any time.
The identical yr, Adamawa and Taraba states additionally banned bikes from their states capitals — Yola and Jalingo respectively.
However earlier this yr, Yobe lifted its ban throughout 10 native authorities areas.
Authorities there say the safety scenario has improved and due to this fact there isn’t any want to take care of the bans.
Reversing the ban
Alhaji Abdullahi Usman Kukuwa, Yobe state commissioner of transport revealed to DW that the “ban on the bike use has recorded lots of successes. The one method out was to ban bikes in Borno and Yobe and this determination efficiently diminished the speed of crime dedicated by motorcyclists.”
Safety analyst Abubakar Mai Shanu agrees on the effectiveness of banning the usage of bikes used to commit crimes.
“I believe in the event you take a look at what was occurring earlier than the legal had been utilizing motorbikes for snap operations. […] I believe it was a sensible determination for governments to ban these bikes,” Shanu mentioned.
He nevertheless now helps the choice to take away the ban.
“For each step or each coverage that authorities takes there needs to be a evaluate. If we take a look at it once more lots of people had been reduce off from their livelihood and different issues, in as a lot as our safety is essential,” Shanu defined.
Extra must be carried out
However not everyone seems to be hopeful that the ban on the usage of bikes will fully cease the bandit assaults.
Nigerian safety professional, retired Main Bishir Galma, informed DW that regardless of earlier bans the assaults have not stopped.
“From all indication, we’re nonetheless listening to huge motion by these bandits on the bike in all places. What it means right here is, they will need to have a method of procuring or having these bikes in all places,” Galma mentioned.
He added that “there may be additionally lack of efficient enforcement of this bans particularly within the rural areas. It is vitally arduous to actually implement this within the rural areas. Even when you’re going to implement it, it is going to be in a really small space and could also be it’s going to have an effect on non-public homeowners who’re real utilizing the bikes for trustworthy jobs.”
Galma mentioned the perfect answer in coping with crimes dedicated with bikes is to ban the sale of “these bikes to those rural areas.”
Nigeria’s bandit violence has its origins in clashes over land between farmers and cattle herders within the northwest nevertheless it has now spiralled into wider legal exercise.
Mohammad Al-Amin and Yusuf Ibrahim Jargaba contributed to this text.
Edited by: Keith Walker