Bandits who attacked hundreds of schoolboys at the Government Science Secondary in Kankara has begun negotiating ransom payment with parents, Eons Intelligence has gathered. 

The bandits have also instructed parents to prevail on the military to stop sending air surveillance.

Gunmen attacked the all-boys secondary school with about 800 students on Friday night. The students were rounded up and made to march on foot to the bandits camp. The Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari has confirmed that many of the students have been accounted for and about 333 students are in the custody of the bandits.

Hours afterer the incident, the presidency released a statement saying the military has located the students and have begun exchanging fire with the bandits. 

READ ALSO: NIGERIA MILITARY LOCATES GUNMEN WHO KIDNAPPED SCHOOLCHILDREN IN KATSINA, BATTLE ONGOING

Eons Intelligence gathered that the students were sighted at Mutu Primary School in Yanwarin Daji Yankuzo village, Zamfara State.

WHY NIGERIA ARMY IS APPLYING TACTS

The Nigeria military has surrounded the location where the bandits are holding the school children, but the bandits have used the children as a shield thereby crippling the security forces, as the Minister of Defence has promised parents that he would bring back the boys with no casualty. 

Therefore, the combined team of the Nigerian security forces are applying tact to ensure the safe release of the boys and the capture of the bandits. 

TIME IS RUNNING OUT

The kidnapped boys have so far spent three nights at the mercy of the bandits with no food supply, there is an apparent fear that the boys may starve- a weapon the bandits are utilizing to force parents to negotiate for the release of their children. 

Eons Intelligence gathered that the boys were forced to walk all through the night into neighbouring Zamfara state with water as their only source of refreshment. 

WHY WAS THE SCHOOL ATTACKED? 

Eons Intelligence gathered that the Government Science Secondary School was not the initial target of the bandits. Reports gathered indicate that the bandits on Friday night made an attempt to attack the Kankara community but were repelled by security forces. 

READ ALSO: COALITION OF NORTHERN GROUPS THREATEN TO PROTEST OVER ABDUCTION OF STUDENTS IN KATSINA

The bandit had planned to revenge a reprisal attack carried out by vigilantes on Thursday, December 10.

On Wednesday, December 9, some bandits raided Yar-Kuka village, killed up to 12 community members, and abducted an unspecified number of people. 

The following day, vigilantes mobilized and carried out reprisal attacks in their hideouts which led to the killing of a lot of the Fulani bandits. 

So, when the Fulani bandits realised they could not get their pound of flesh from residents in Kankara that Friday night, they went for the boys’ school. 

WHY KATSINA STOPPED NEGOTIATING WITH BANDITS

The Katsina government under Governor Aminu Masari has adopted the “zero negotiation with bandits” policy. 

Governor Masari who once signed a peace agreement with bandits to keep Katsina residents safe from bandit attacks has vowed never to negotiate with the criminals again because they do not keep their word. 

READ ALSO: THREE NIGHTS AFTER, OVER 300 ABDUCTED SCHOOL BOYS YET TO RETURN

In 2016, Governor Masari initiated an amnesty programme for bandits and cancelled all vigilantes and volunteer groups in the state. After its initial success, the criminals soon reneged on the agreement and went back kidnapping for ransom and other forms of banditry. 

Eons Intelligence gathered that Dogo, the leader of the bandits responsible for the abduction of the schoolboys in Kankara is on the wanted list by the Katsina State Government. 

However, Dogo, as well as Dangamari and Yellow- all notorious bandits leaders who have been declared wanted by the Katsina State Government are walking freely in neighbouring Zamfara state. 

Zamfara a safe haven for Bandits? 

Unlike Katsina state, Zamfara’s Bello Matawalle has declared that he has no regrets negotiating with bandits. 

In Zamfara, bandits are not regarded as outlaws. Sources told Eons Intelligence that the state government compensates the leadership of the bandits for loss accrued during run-ins with security forces.

Governor Matawalle told newsmen he sees negotiation with bandits as the best option for lasting peace in his state. 

"We applied the peace accord as a means of honest solution to the problem of Zamfara State which has yielded tremendous result never expected in the last one year," Matawalle said in June. 

Last month, the Governor of Zamfara claimed he was able to secure the release of 26 girls abducted in Dan-Aji community in Katsina through mere dialogue with the bandits.

The girls, aged between 8 and 12 were kidnapped in Katsina and taken into the bandit's camp in Zamfara. 

The village head in Katsina was quick to refute Governor Matawalle's claim, saying the community paid the bandits 6.6 million ransom to secure the abducted girls’ freedom. 

Bandits find it convenient to unleash mayhem in Katsina and flee to Zamfara with their loot under the state government's protection. 

Like the abducted Dan-Aji girls, the bandits have once again brought the abducted schoolboys into Zamfara-a zone that is proving itself a safe haven for bandits. 

For a state with such close proximity to Katsina, the difference in security strategy and policy is a clog to a successful victory over banditry in the region.

As parents face the most gruelling decisions of negotiating with bandits to secure the lives of their children and further embolden them to carry out more daring attacks with funds provided, the time has come for the federal government to look into states actively encouraging banditry by making their territories safe haven for their nefarious activities.