EXAMINATION OF THE SECURITY MEASURES TO CONTAIN BANDITRY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON HUMAN SECURITY IN ZAMFARA STATE, FROM 2011-2023

There have been many attempts by government, communities and willing individual to curtail the menace of the armed bandits in Zamfara state and Nigeria at large, this is not unconnected with the fact that Banditry has impacted on all spheres of life of the people of Zamfara state. The people and the government of the state have taken measures to curtail it. But all the efforts failed to bring lasting peace among the people and the bandits. The government introduced operation “Hadarin Daji”. As the result, more properties are destroyed; people are killed and displaced, while others voluntarily relocate from the state. Therefore, this becomes imperative to examine the impact of the new approach on the security of human persons in Zamfara state. The study utilized Frustration-Aggression Theory (FAT), in the theoretical analysis, using both primary and secondary data. The study found out that, the new security measure has succeeded in dislodging and destroying bandits’ camps in most of their hideout, but not able to contain the banditry challenge in the state, in fact, it worsens the situations in some areas, whereby bandits attack not for ransom but to kill and destroy civilian properties as revenge while in some communities, villages are taken for hostage. Therefore, government should revisit traditional peace-making process between herders and farmers by empowering the traditional institution to intervene with terms of conditions and strong monitoring team to ensure fairness and justice. Finally, all the injustices which triggered the herder-farmer conflict to armed banditry should be addressed by government through good-governance and a ‘just’ judicial system.