The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, says it will take decades for the bandit-ravaged North-West geopolitical zone to come out of the menacing security challenge.

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The President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) stated this at the North-West Peace and Security Summit in Katsina State on Monday.

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“What we must do is to challenge these bandits because we all know the consequences of banditry and insurgency on our lives. But it will take decades to get out of it if all we get out of it. We all know the consequences and the problems,” he said.

The Sultan expressed the readiness of traditional rulers to partner with security agencies and the seven governors of the geopolitical zone to “save our region from the numerous problems” of banditry and insurgency.

He believed that at the end of the summit, proposals to bring insurgency to the barest minimum for people to go about their lives and businesses would be arrived at.

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The summit was graced by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu; ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, governors of the seven states in the North-West geopolitical zone, service chiefs, the Inspector General of Police.

Banditry became a phenomenon in Kaduna, Kastina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano, and Jigawa in the last one decade as a spillover of the intractable Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East zone.

Thousands of people, mostly vulnerable persons, have been killed and displaced by the bloodthirsty marauders who mostly disguise as herders. A very large number of people have also been kidnapped for ransom as the AK-47-wielding bandits multiply across the North-West zone and penetrate the North Central zone.

Non-kinetic approaches explored by governments at different levels have failed over the years as bandits continue to sack farmers from their farmlands, significantly affecting the food production of the country.