As the relentless scourge of banditry continues to destabilize Nigeria’s Northern states, local governments and communities are increasingly resorting to a controversial strategy: striking direct peace deals with the very criminal groups terrorizing them. Data compiled by SBM Intelligence confirms that these arrangements, which often include amnesty, rehabilitation, and safe passage, have become a primary, if desperate, means of curbing the persistent decade-long violence marked by mass attacks and kidnappings.
However, the success of this approach has been highly fragile. While these pacts often secure temporary calm, many of them struggle to achieve lasting peace, collapsing soon after they are sealed.
Formalizing the Compromise
The decision to engage with these armed groups has taken both formal and unconventional forms across the region:
- Zamfara State was an early adopter of this strategy. In a widely reported move in July 2022, the Yandoton Emirate in Tsafe Local Government Area conferred the chieftaincy title of Sarkin Fulani on notorious bandit leader Ado Alerio. This highly criticized gesture was intended to secure protection for Tsafe and its surrounding communities. Two months later, in Dansadau, Maru Local Government Area, another pact was reached with the group led by Ali Kacallah to ensure farmers and herders could safely access farmlands.
- Katsina State formalized the process in March 2023 by launching an official amnesty programme. This initiative promised rehabilitation, reintegration, and skills training for bandits who surrendered their weapons, aiming to reduce kidnappings and village raids.
- Kaduna State followed suit in March 2024, negotiating with bandit groups operating in Birnin Gwari. While the government offered farming access and rehabilitation support, it explicitly rejected direct financial payments. Governor Uba Sani later expanded this focus in June 2025 to include vocational training, social integration, and community-based disarmament campaigns.
Local Pacts and Financial Ransom
Beyond state-led efforts, the need for immediate survival has driven local communities to negotiate their own bargains.
Across Katsina, village leaders in Kurfi and Safana LGAs entered into direct agreements with armed groups in August 2025 to allow farming and trade in exchange for a cessation of attacks. This community-driven compromise has also spread to Sokoto State, where communities in Goronyo and Sabon Birni LGAs reportedly reached pacts involving financial levies of up to ₦5 million for safe passage and an end to abductions. The most recent examples were seen in September 2025, when Sabuwa and Dandume LGAs of Katsina also engaged in local deals to counter repeated kidnappings and killings.
Legitimacy vs. Survival
The strategy of peace pacts is fraught with controversy. While authorities defend them as necessary stop-gap measures to secure temporary relief for ravaged communities, critics warn of the dangerous long-term consequences. There is a palpable risk that these agreements legitimize criminality, effectively weakening the authority and sovereignty of the Nigerian state.
For analysts, many of these agreements suffer from a severe lack of structure and accountability. However, for those living in rural communities—the primary targets of the violence—dialogue has tragically become the only viable path to temporary stability in a conflict that seems utterly resistant to outright military or political resolution.
