CHAPTER TWO

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF BANDITRY ON RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework
• Summary of chapter

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

BANDITRY

Banditry means the occurrence or prevalence of armed robbery or violent crime. It involves the use of force, or threat to that effect, to intimidate a person with the intent to rob, rape or kill. Banditry is a crime against people. It has been a common genre of crime, as well as causing violence in contemporary societies (Nigeria Watch, 2011). The concept of banditry has been changing over time, space and circumstances. A bandit in the 19thcentury Europe and Americas was a freedom fighter whose aim was partly to ensure the emancipation of the downtrodden from the upper class or colonised by the colonizers (Warto,1994:). Furthermore, bandits like Chucho el Roto, Herachio Bernel & Santanon were often celebrated as heroes of Mexican independence. Therefore, Mexicans have warm regards and respect for those "social workers" termed bandits, while on the contrary, the State often considers them as nuisance and outlaws that need to be eradicated (Michael Watts,1987).

According to Rotberg (2007), "crimes against persons, including murder, rape, and robbery, have grown in scale and viciousness in Nigeria since 1999". This has been demonstrated by the pervasive trend of armed robbery in the country, which in effect mirrors the Africa-wide experience. In this regard, Onimode opines that: Car snatching, robbery of homes and offices, way-laying of travellers (high-way robbery) are common forms of armed robbery in African countries. Their incidence has been rising since the African crisis started in the 1980s (Onimode, 2001:37). Therefore, in some pre-industrial societies, peasants see bandits differently from the state, not as outlaws, hoodlums and miscreants but as avengers and "bread winners". However, a bandit in a traditional African setting is entirely opposite to that of the Americas and Europe. The former specialized in armed robbery and other related crimes (Curott & Fink,2008). The most common feature of banditry in Africa has been maiming, killing and wanton destruction of properties and, hence, it has a direct relationship with cattle rustling (Rufa ’I, 2017). Since most herdsmen could do anything possible to prevent the rustling of their herds, then the bandits also apply force with the aid of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) to ensure effective stealing of livestock (Addo,2006). Hence, the application of force during livestock theft is what is herein considered banditry and a dynamic operating pattern of crime.

In Northwest Nigeria, particularly in Kaduna State and most especially in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, criminal gangs engaged in rural banditry by stealing cattle and livestock, leading to the displacement of rural dwellers. The theft of animals forces the rural inhabitants to migrate southward, causing environmental degradation, population growth, an increase in the price of cattle, regional instability and exacerbating farmers/herder conflict dynamics. Rural banditry and cattle rustling appear to be increasing by the day because of several interconnected issues involving tensions between farmers and pastoralists exploited by criminals masquerading as herdsmen. The phenomenon appears to be connected to government security inadequacies, identity and inter group relations and the worsening socioeconomic conditions of the people. The rural areas are populated by farmers and pastoralists who form the economic foundation of the nation, contributing over 40% of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product in recent years (Augustine, 2015). Rustling and other animal theft has a different significance in the context of perennial conflict between pastoralists and crop farmers. Hence, conflicts are driven by insecurity perpetuated by grazers in this area. For instance, the growing menace of cattle rustling by armed gangs and bandits appears to differ in terms of scale and economic consequences in "ungoverned" spaces, and territories between Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara States. These armed gangs and bandits routinely raid cattle ranches owned by traditional pastoralists.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Rural development entails eco-economic and social efforts aimed at encouraging concepts of retention, growth, and expansion in areas outside of cities, as well as improving the quality of life for rural residents through such activity.

The rural area, beyond being defined as that which is not urban, is a contested space from a definitional standpoint. Coming from or belonging to open spaces – those found outside of cities – is what rural means.Rural has a similar meaning to country or countryside, but it is more commonly used in public policy contexts.Rural, as a word, is also endowed with other sorts of value: it is associated with agriculture and farming and people from outside city areas. Connections are made between people from rural areas and the land itself. While a contrasting relationship might be supposed between rural and urban, more properly, a continuum exists between the two as definitions of rural and agriculture are altered due to the forces of modern living and ultimately bear less resemblance to historical identities (Friedland 2002).

Nevertheless, rural areas have a rich history and identity of their own, even while they share some aspects in common with urban areas (Woods 2011). Rural development, for purposes of this entry, encompasses efforts that are economic and social in nature, intended to encourage growth or expansion in areas outside cities. This entry considers rural development from a variety of perspectives, including economic aspects, infrastructure and service considerations, sociocultural factors, and the role of stakeholders.

It has been noted that rural places are undergoing transformation due to "globalisation, economic downturn, public sector budgetary pressures, demographic ageing, and climate and environmental change" (Steiner and Atterton 2015). Traditional rural jobs (mining, farming, and manufacturing) now account for only about a fifth of total non-metropolitan area employment.Two-fifths of rural employment is in typical service-type work like what would be seen in cities (healthcare and retail, for example); the balance of employment is in construction, transportation, and other services (Irwin et al. 2010). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) posed the question of whether rural development was a territorial or sectoral issue, ultimately determining that it was a place-based issue rather than a topic best addressed through policy imposition (2003).A sectoral approach to rural policy decisions would leave only a few well-entrenched actors in the policy arena, most notably agriculture, mining, and petroleum.Agricultural interests have historically informed policy choices with respect to rural areas in many regions, and the interests of agribusiness have been favored over other conceptions of rurality.

As competing views have become more well defined, however, the view of rural areas as one and the same with farming, or merely places where oil extraction occurs, has become increasingly inaccurate, if not obsolete. A major influence is employment potential: Agriculture has declined in its ability to support well-paying jobs in rural areas and areas that focus on such business as a specialization find themselves subject to the whims of commodity markets. Although rural land use for agriculture remains strong, and productivity is high, employment has been reduced precipitously.How rural areas are changing involves choices made not just by agricultural interests but by multisectoral stakeholders (OECD 2003). Even as rural areas have moved away from over-reliance on one type of business, some of the standard advice for urban development, such as industry diversification to encourage resiliency, industrial clustering of firms, or reluctance to support entrepreneurial development, may not be appropriate in rural areas.Such efforts may reduce risk, but in rural areas, some risk may be acceptable if the potential harm from a failed effort is mitigated.Society-wide risks Shocks to an entire system, for example, pose significant threats to both urban and rural areas, preventing worthwhile risks from being taken on otherwise positive potential business deals.If the risk pays off, a lack of diversification in a rural community may not be a flaw, as it may be in an urban center.If a rural area balances the risks and rewards of its development choices in order to increase output of interest to the world outside the area, it is on the right track (Freshwater 2015).Putting nothing forward, how-ever, will accomplish no gain. This is especially true in rural areas, where existing interests cling to "what was" about the locale and fail to see a possible bright future for the community.In rural development, scale and expectation management are critical considerations.Economically, it may appear that agglomeration economies – where like businesses tend to aggregate for mutually beneficial reasons – are more closely aligned with urban areas, because "macro variables such as innovation, productivity, growth, and development are greater in more densely populated areas" (Naldi et al. 2015, p. 96).This does not, however, imply that rural areas lack potential for "matching, sharing, and learning processes," and in fact, a marginal increase may be felt more strongly in a rural area than in an urban region (Naldi et al. 2015, p. 97).Using smart development principles, such as those seen in urban economies, one can expect to see smaller-scale agglomeration tendencies, "natural and recreational amenities as well as creative economies," (Naldi et al. 2015, p. 96), and networks and exchanges for research and development, specifically calling for the development of high-speed broadband connectivity to facilitate learning and sharing of knowledge.Broadband also helps with e-commerce, which has become a source of revenue in rural areas.Tourism-related businesses in rural areas are on the rise; this could be attributed to identity, which is "vital for the constitution of entrepreneurial processes" (Berglund et al. 2016, p. 91).Contrary to popular belief, rural areas can become aware of what is in their communities, embracing the entrepreneurial spirit to create something unique to the place, forcing residents to reconsider the essential identity of their community (Berglund et al. 2016).According to Courtney et al. (2006), "effective management of the natural heritage is required for economic as well as environmental reasons" (p. 481).As a result, given the close relationship between natural features and the preservation of place identity, tourist enterprises in rural areas would do well to support the sustainability of natural features and the reduction of potential damage through effective management.

CAUSES OF HERDSMEN AND FARMERS CRISIS IN NIGERIA

Traditional Institution Factor

The causes of Farmers and Herdsmen crisis in Nigeria and particularly in Benue state according to Jibo (2014) is the allegation that some traditional rulers often collect money from Fulani pastoralists with the intention of allowing grazing activities within their domain. These arrangement are often unacceptable to the common farmers. The late Tor Tiv Alfred Akawe Torkula in his reacting on the killing of the Tiv farmers by herdsmen why speaking at Anyin, where he attended the Funeral of the Late Pa Undzuul Anyin ( his maternal uncle) the Tor Tiv thus stated:

“He regretted the heavy loss of lives and properties as a result of Fulani attacks and Warm (sic) those particularly the chiefs who monetize certain portion of land with Fulani without the knowledge of the public to desist in doing so (Jibo 2014)”.

The above view indicate clearly that the crisis between herdsmen and farmers crisis is attributed to the economic benefit of selling land to Fulani for grazing by the traditional rulers without involving their subjects. This development resulted to rejection by the local communities there by creating problems.

Demography / Climate Change

Increase in the population of people across the country with little land left for farming and grazing of animals by both herdsmen and farmers is causing crisis. The then Governor of Benue state Suswan stated categorically as quoted in Jibo (2014) that:

“the Fulani invasion have, …. Challenges that are very worrisome to all of us. Let me hasten to say that the Fulani invasion is not just peculiar to Benue. This invasion has assumed a national dimension and the government itself if (sic) very worried. I have made several reports of this to higher authorities for us to take action. You will recall that the Sultan has visited here up to three times on my invitation for us to address this issue together being himself head of the Fulani and the head of the Muslims in this country. He did very well. He was able to address this and put some people who up till now we interact with to address the problem of the invasion. But the problem has different dimension”.

One is the fact that there is continues encroachment of the desert moving down. If you go beyond Plateau as you move even to Nasarawa State, you can notice desertification coming in. That reduces the availability of grasses for the animals and for a Fulani man he must necessarily feed the animal that now encroaches on farmers because the population has increased over the years. For instance in the 70s and 80s, the population that we now have was non – existence; so there was large availability of land for grazing. Now we are officially one hundred and sixty something unofficially we’re over two hundred millions.

Families that you only had maybe ten people now you have about fifty people in those families so the land available for farming and grazing has reduced and so we necessarily need to do something to avoid conflict otherwise this conflict will continued. And it has assumed a very dangerous dimension where the Fulani would hire mercenaries to come and wipe out a whole village as we witnessed lately in four of our local governments, the latest being the one in Agatu which are still grappling with till date (Jibo, 2014). The increase in pressure resulting from resource degradation and scarcity is aggravating the situation of competition between farmers and pastoralists. In the areas where the two production systems interact, both communities are increasingly considering the option of expansion to each other’s holding. As a result, conflicts are getting recurrent and intensified in many parts of the country (Adelakun, Adurogbangba and Akinbile, 2015). Okoli and Atelhe (2014) relate the causes of conflict to the global climate change and the contenting desertification and aridity that reduced arable and grazing lands, forcing pastoralist to move southwards in search of pasture for their livestock.

Cattle Rustling

Cattle Rustling Were known to have caused farmer – herder conflict. In every community, there are miscreants. Some of these have been caught stealing bulls and cows by the nomadic herders. These killings often enraged the host communities.

Land Acquisition

Land acquisition by capitalist farmers Also exacerbates the upsurge of conflict as pastoralist can no longer find where to pass even to talk of where to stay ( Abbass, 2012 cited in Muhammed, Ismaila and Bibi, 2015; Adisa and Adekunle, 2010).

Contamination of Stream

Contamination of Stream Is regarded as the source of conflict. The stream is the source of domestic water supply for most rural farming communities. The host community members believe that contamination of the stream leads to outbreak of cholera, typhoid fever and liver fluke. The nomadic herdsmen also allow their cattle to graze on fallow land continuously and over grazing emanates there from. This cause erosion on the plot of land thereby making it infertile and difficult to cultivate by farmers.

Rape

Rape Is amajor cause of conflict which is a taboo to every society in the world and in particular in Africa. It is not taken lightly. The nomads who are singles, in a bid to satisfy their thirst for females fall into such temptations.

Destruction of Crops

There are also issues of nomads entering with their cattle in the farms of farmers and causing havoc to farm products like yam, rice etc. This usually result to conflicts between them.Indiscriminate bush burning also cause conflict among herdsmen and farmers because unharvest products of farmers are usually burn to ashes (Ofuoku and Isife 2009; Bello 2013 ; Adelakun, Adurogbangb and Akinbile, 2015)

Indigenization

Okeke (2014) in his study attributed the indigenization claim of ownership of a place as a source of conflicts between herdsmen and farmers. He stated an example of conflict between the city – dwelling Hausa and Berom in Plateau state . According to him in the last few years the conflict spread to the rural areas and Fulani became the major enemies of the Berom. The conflict have become bloodier since 2001 to date. The same thing is attributed to Benue and Nasarawa States among others up till date with series of killings of human beings and wanton destruction of farm products and buildings. Aluaigba (2008)views the Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen invasion of Benue State from the perspective of citizenship ideology. In recent times, questions have been raised in public discourses on the subject of citizenship in Nigeria. In particular, the issue of discrimination against Nigerians who live in places where they were not born or where their forefathers were not born has been perceived as a major cause of conflict. Consequently, the arrival of the HausaFulani Muslim herdsmen into Benue is perceived as reviving this old and unsettled rivalry between the indigene and the settler over socio-economic and environmental resources. The Nigerian Republic, like other African nations, has been blamed for its inability to accommodate the various ethnic groups that exist in the country. Nigeria’s post-colonial policies have instead caused further division, adding to the serious quarrels between its varied groups and leading to yet more violent conflict (Abdulbarkindo and Alupsen, 2017). The law governing indigenization needs to be revisit by both the upper and lower chambers of the house to resolve friction and tension over indigenes and settlers at both the Federal and States government level in order to avoid crisis in Nigeria.

Porosity of Nigerian boarders

The porosity of Nigerian boarders is the cause of herdsmen and farmers crisis among other insecurity problems in Nigeria, many herdsmen that found their way in the country are discover to be from Mali, Chad and Niger etc. who hardly speaks pigging English nor Hausa as a spoken languages that are causing trouble in the country. The former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase also said that: “most of the herdsmen are not Nigerians. They are people from Mali and Chad who come into our system, that is why we have to be very careful, our borders are porous “(Abdulbarkindo and Alupsen 2017, and Ngbea and Ngbea, 2016). Nigerians borders needs to be tighten in order to avoid influx of foreigners in the country.

Impunity and Nepotism

Impunity and nepotism in Nigeria by the government of the day based on the statement credited by the Inspector General of Police Idris, when he was sent to Benue State by Nigerian President Buhari to investigate the killing of over 70 people in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state on the 1st January, 2018 by suspected herdsmen. According to his interpretation, the crisis was a mere communal crisis – this did not go down well in a country with multiple religions and tribes.

The public relation officer of the police Mr. Jimoh also threw discourteous words to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom when he called him a drowning man during his interview on Channels Television, he said in an apparent reference to the governor calling for the immediate resignation or sack of the IGP (Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily news at 10:oopm, 6th Feb; 2018 and Ahmed- Gamgum, 2018).

Abdulbarkindo and Alupsen (2017) in their research reports in Benue State says, while questions still remain unanswered about the types of sophisticated weapons used in Benue, the nature of the attacks and the atrocities committed have raised very serious concerns. The Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen deploy fear as a tactic and thus ensure that victims are traumatized in such a way that they do not wish to return to their homeland after fleeing.

This was confirmed by interviews carried out among victims living in refugee camps in Gwer-West, Guma, Tarka, Ukum, Agatu and Logo. According to a community leader in Guma, the nature of the atrocities are chilling and HausaFulani Muslim herdsmen conduct them with arrogance and impunity. On 23 October 2017, the National President and Secretary of the Fulani socio-cultural association “Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore” called a press conference in Abuja, insisting that the convergence of herdsmen in the Benue valley between November and February every year is historical and inevitable.

They claimed that the Anti-Open Grazing Law signed by Benue State Governor in May 2017 (and due to be implemented in November 2017) was therefore denying the herdsmen their legitimate rights as Nigerians. The association called on President Muhammad Buhari to stop the law, otherwise the herdsmen would have to defend their rights and their lifestyle. The uncertainty following this press conference has raised security concerns among local communities in Benue State. The current atmosphere suggests that the indications of ethnic cleansing based on religious affiliation are likely to become increasingly evident through further attacks targeting Christian communities (Abdulbarkindo and Alupsen, 2017). The inaction of the Nigerian government towards Hausa-Fulani Muslim violence has allowed the culture of impunity to grow.

In the absence of government security, some local communities decide to defend themselves against Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen attacks. Critics have blamed the government for using double standards. The government arrests, imprisons and prosecutes members of the indigenous people of Biafra. The government has deployed military forces against the Niger Delta Avengers. Yet, the government has refused to arrest or prosecute Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen. Instead, there appears to be a policy-framework underway to establish grazing fields for the herdsmen. The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, reaffirmed the government’s plans to establish cattle ranches as a lasting solution to prevent the frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria. He spoke during a one-day public hearing organized by the Senate Committees on Agriculture, and National Security and Intelligence (Abdulbarkindo and Alupsen, 2017).

Based on the above statement made by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (National President and Secretary of the Fulani Socio –Cultural Association), on the 1st of January, 2018 over 70 Tiv people including women and children were killed in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue State by suspected herdsmen and the NPSFSCA secretary has not been arrested for try and persecution by any of the security agencies in the country.

All these resulted to a call to defend yourselves against the invasion of Fulani herdsmen that is not only in Benue, but other states like Kaduna, Zamfara and Taraba among others at the organized maiden Taraba State University convocation on 24th of March, 2018 by T.Y Danjuma and some other stakeholders like the Emir of Birnin Gwari Axis of Kaduna Malam Zubairu Jibril Mail Gwari II in the country, which received an ill feeling by the government.

EFFECT OF BANDITRY ON RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Banditry characterized by killings, kidnappings, threats, robberies, theft, burnings, raiding and blocking of local trade routes which are highlighted below:

Killing of farmers

This is one of the most devastating impacts of banditry leads to poor development in the rural community state whereby farmers were killed by the bandits. Most families experience food insecurity when the head of the households are dead. These farmers are heads of households who are married with children and their death adversely affects the other family members in terms of food supply.

Example of killing of farmers by bandits took place at Yargamji village of Batsari LGA where on 6th July 2020, famers were on the farm working after an overnight rain, the bandits numbering over 200 shot sporadically killing 15 farmers and injuring several others (Aminu, 2020). On 10th September, 2020, three farmers were also killed by bandits in Dandume LGA, one of the most agrarian areas in the state (Erezi, 2020). In fact most of the people killed by the bandits in the villages of the five LGAs sampled for the study are either farmers or cattle rearers whose death means their families and dependents suffered from food shortage at the family level. In some cases, the families of the deceased farmers or cattle rearers have no option than to move to internally displaced persons camps where their source of food could be guaranteed for some time by the Government.

Kidnapping of farmers

This is another devastating impact of banditry where farmers were kidnapped when they go to the farm to work. In case where famers were kidnapped, they were taken to the forest and will not be released till large sums of moneys are paid as ransom. This payment of ransom impoverishes the famers and in some cases the farmers had no option but to sell their properties including their farmlands to get money to pay ransom. In Dandume LGA some of the farmers in the villages sold their farmlands to buy a house at Dandume town to escape kidnapping. One of the most recent cases of kidnapping was at Mallamawa village of Jibia LGA on 4th October 2020, where 22 farmers working on the farmlands were kidnapped while some managed to escape (Ibrahim, 2020). One of the farmers that narrowly escaped lamented that: “In these villages, we depend mostly on two things as source of livelihood farming and cattle rearing.

Farming has become difficult due to insecurity. Domestic animal rearing has also become difficult as bandits have rustled our cattle and presently they are abducting us on our farms. Am calling on the government to come to our aid as we cannot migrate to the cities since we have no job to do in the cities and all that we have are in the villages. Anybody that is used to village life cannot stay in the city as the city consumes wealth”. Chasing farmers out of their farms

Bandits chased farmers out of their farms when they saw them working there. As the bandits were well armed they ran after the famers on their motorcycle with the intention to hurt or kill and the farmer had no option than to run since the farmers were not armed. For example, on the week of 3rd of May 2020 at the outskirts of Maigora, Sabon Layin Galadima and Unguwar Tsamiya villages of Faskari LGA some farmers were on their farmland in preparation for the farming season when they were chased out by the bandits telling them “who said to you there will be farming this season?’’ From these incidences of chasing farmers out of their farmlands, other farmers became scared to begin preparation for the farming season as the bandits even moved in broad day light on their motorcycles to see if there was any evidence of farming activity to destroy it. In certain instances it was the sound of gun shots coming from the forest or sound of gun shot in the air that chased farmers out of their farmlands. This was the instance outside Shekewa and Yargamji villages of Batsari LGA in the first week of October 2020. Seizing of farmlands This occurs where farmlands are located very close of the forest hideout of the bandits. It also occurs outside villages that have been completely deserted due to incessant attacks by the bandits. The bandits seize the farmlands and use them as grazing fields for the large number of cattle they acquired illegally through cattle rustling activities. In some areas where the bandits have not seized the farmlands, the bandits drive their cattle into the farmlands to eat up crops that have started to germinate after the first rains were recorded. This was the case between 10th – 12th May 2020 at farmlands located outside Gauren Dutse, Yar Laraba and Shekewa villages of Batsari LGA.

Theft of cattle

Bandits engage in theft of cattle or cattle rustling in all the five LGAs sampled for the study. When the bandits attack villages, they shot sporadically into the air to scare away the villagers and create an atmosphere of chaos as the villagers run for safety. The bandits then direct a group among them that specialize in cattle theft to enter the houses and steal cattle from where they are kept. Besides farming, cattle’s rearing is another source of livelihood in the villages. Therefore the theft of cattle deprives the villagers of their source of livelihood and halt cattle rearing activities. It deprives the villagers of source of farm labour use to make ridges to plant crops.

According to the Focus Groups the large farmlands in the LGAs were cultivated with the use of oxen and since they were rustled such large farmlands were left uncultivated. Theft of cattle also deprives the villagers’ of the source of manure for their farmlands.

In Safana LGA, for example, the bandits rustled 110 cows and 350 goats and sheep during series of attacks in the month of July 2020 on the village of Kunkunna in June and July 2020.

Burning and raiding of grain silos

During large scale attacks that involve large number of bandits which lasted for some hours, the bandits engaged in the burning of local grains silos (called rumbu in Hausa language). These grain silos contained foodstuffs that were stored by the farmers which could last for many months but were burnt by the bandits which created lack of food for the villagers. In some cases, the grain silos were raided and the food stolen by the bandits creating a food scarcity in the households. The bandits also burgled local shops that sold foodstuffs and stole the food items which made foodstuffs to be scarce even in the local shops of the villages. Example here includes the attack on Dankar and Tsauwa villages of Batsari LGA on 14th February 2020. The attack on Unguwar Gizo in Faskari LGA on 29th May 2020 is another example of these kinds of attacks.

Blocking of local trade routes

These are local trade routes that are found along roads linking rural markets where buyers and sellers of foodstuffs pass through especially on market days. The bandits blocked such routes to intercept the vehicles with the traders inside. The bandits snatched foodstuffs intended for sale at the markets; money meant for the purchase of foodstuffs or even kidnapped the traders tilllarge sums of monies were paid. For example, on Sunday 5th January 2020, the bandits blocked a section of Jibia to Batsari road to kidnap 38 traders returning from Jibia weekly market. Also on three consecutive days 21st, 22nd and 23rd February 2020, the bandits mounted a road block along Runka to Marina road in Safana LGA to rob travelers of their money and cell phones. On 20th October 2020 the bandits again blocked the Danmusa to Runka road to rob traders coming to the weekly market at Runka, Safana LGA. In certain cases, the bandits even attacked the weekly markets where these traders meet to exchange their goods for money.

For example, on the 17th October, 2020 the bandits attacked Gurbi weekly market in Jibia LGA killing two traders, injuring one woman and kidnapping some people who came to the market on that day.

Since November 2019, the attacks have affected food security as bandits chased out farmers from their farms which affected harvesting of crops. The movement of bandits on motorcycles armed with guns close to areas where fishing and irrigation farming are taking place has adversely impacted on these activities. it can also be observed that the bandits engaged in killing, kidnapping, burning and stealing of foodstuffs and domestic animals. All the activities shown have negatively impacted on food security.

In villages where the bandit’s attacks are incessant or there are real threats of attacks, many people especially women and children flee such areas to become internally displaced persons (IDPs) who take shelter at IDP camps or at the houses of friends and relations. On the date of the field visit to Faskari IDP, 10th October 2020 the number at the camps was 1,123 persons that fled from eight villages. The IDPs depended on the food provided by the local and state governments which to a large extent was not adequate. Also some of the IDPs that stayed with friends and relatives eat from the food cooked in the houses which made the food inadequate. According to the respondents in Dandume town, most of the large scale farmers that produced large amount of crops had abandoned farming due to the threats of attacks on the farm lands and at their homes in villages. Also the threat of kidnapping had forced the large scale farmers to abandoned farming in Dandume and Faskari LGAs and fled for safety at nearby Funtua town. Thus all these hinders rural community development.

2.2 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Theoretical perspective, This research is anchored on frustration-aggression model social conflict theory.

Frustration aggression model: It was propounded and captured in a monograph by five scholars in Yale Institute of Human Relations in 1939. The major assumption of the model is that “aggression is always a consequence of frustration”, and “that the occurrence of aggressive behavior always presupposes the existence of frustration and, contrariwise, that the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression” (Dollard, Miller, Doob, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939). They also deined frustration as “an interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal-response at its proper time in the behavior sequence” (Dollard et al., 1939, p. 7). The interrogations and disputations that the perspective generated led one of the proponents to intervene with some modifications of the central thesis. Thus, Miller (1941) noted that it was too general to assume that frustration must always lead to aggression or that aggression is always propelled by frustration. His intervention led to the second lap of the hypothesis which reelected a more acceptable reality thus:

frustration produces instigations to a number of different types of response, one of which is an instigation to some form of aggression However,fifty years later, a significant modification came from Berkowitz (1989) who argued that aggression can be driven by inherent personal benefits to the aggressor and not necessarily by past wrongdoings and that people are more akin to attack when they discover that they are wilfully sabotaged or denied what it’s legitimately theirs than when the interference is an accidental occurrence. He surmised it as “frustrations are aversive events and generate aggressive inclinations only to the extent that they produce negative effect” (Berkowitz, 1989, p. 71). As already noted, the unending at-tacks between pastoralists and sedentary farmers across the country are largely driven by frustrations and struggles to protect the economic assets of land, cattle and farm products. Herders were pressured to provide pastures and water to their locks in the light of climate change realities, while crop farmers were in dire need of lands for in-creased agricultural production. Thus, the ensuing cattle rustling, physical attacks and encroachments on farms bred frustrations between the two groups, which got effused in violent clashes and the manifest weakness of the state in curbing the menace made resort to self-help fashionable.

Conflict theory, first purported by Karl Marx, is a theory that society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources.Conflict theory focuses on the competition between groups within society over limited resources. Conflict theory views social and economic institutions as tools of the struggle between groups or classes, used to maintain inequality and the dominance of the ruling class.

Marxist conflict theory sees society as divided along lines of economic class between the proletarian working class and the bourgeois ruling class.

Later versions of conflict theory look at other dimensions of conflict among capitalist factions and between various social, religious, and other types of groups. Conflict theory has been used to explain a wide range of social phenomena, including wars, revolutions, poverty, discrimination, and domestic violence. It ascribes most of the fundamental developments in human history, such as democracy and civil rights, to capitalistic attempts to control the masses (as opposed to a desire for social order). Central tenets of conflict theory are the concepts of social inequality, the division of resources, and the conflicts that exist between different socioeconomic classes.

2.3 CHAPTER SUMMARY

In Nigeria, various forms of insecurity such as insurgency and banditry have negative impacts on food security in the country One of the most recent was the fatal attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on farmers working on rice fields in Zabarmari in Jere LGA of Borno state on 28th November, 2020.This attack portends danger to food security as many farmers are very scared to go to their farms to engage in irrigation farming among other food producing activities. Banditry, particularly in the North West has also negatively impacted food security in states such as Katsina. The implications of the impacts means that there is reduction in the number of farmers due to their killings, there is impoverishment of farmers due to kidnappings, farmers are not willing to go to their farmlands as they will be chased out, cattle rearing has become difficult, there is reduction in the quantity of crops stored in grain silos, there are risks of attacks when farmers visit local weekly markets and many farmers have become dependent on food provided either at IDP camps or at the houses of friends and relatives. These clearly indicate the negative impacts of banditry on food security in Katsina state. The negative impacts have also completely affected the farming schedules of both rained and irrigation farming in the state. However when the means of survival is taken away from the people, underdevelopment deepens thus rural community development is impeded