Late bandit's brother parleys with Zamfara gold-rich community

Mati Sububu, the younger brother of the late terrorism kingpin Halilu Sububu, has held a peace meeting with the residents of Bagega, a solid mineral-rich community in the Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

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The elder Sububu was killed by the Nigerian military last September. His brother is also a bandit, and with one Alhaji Beti, sent a delegation of Fulani elders and ‘repentant terrorists’ to the community’s leaders to explore a peace deal. The meeting was held in Bagega on Saturday.

The community leaders said the terrorists want more access to local mining sites after days of violence in the areas.

According to a report by TheBeat, an online platform focusing on banditry reporting, residents said the terrorists had recently intensified attacks on Bagega and communities around it.

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According to the report, on 25 April, they abducted six women in the community and killed a man.in another attack the following day. While the latter victim was being buried around 9 a.m., the terrorists invaded the cemetery again, firing sporadically and killing a vigilante.

A community leader at the meeting reportedly told the news platform that residents considered the terrorists’ call for peace as suspicious. “They want to continue mining gold,” he said in a series of voice notes on WhatsApp that he sent to this newspaper Sunday evening.

Residents said Mati and his gangs were applying a strategy the late Mr Sububu used to gain access to the mining site.

ALSO READ: FEATURE: Halilu Sububu: The life, atrocities and fall of a bandit king

“We were here when Halilu (Sububu) came, and the first thing he did was negotiate. They want to keep people silent about attacks in the ward so that attention will be diverted to other areas. This would give them complete access to the gold. If they continue to attack and our vigilante members continue to repel the attack, more soldiers will be sent here, which means no business,” a community leader said.

However, he said the community leaders accepted the invitation to negotiate, describing it as a welcome development to stop bloodshed in the area.

“Mati’s brother, Halilu Sububu, initiated a peace deal with all the towns in this axis. After his death, the peace deal collapsed because his group got divided, so I think they’re now trying to bring back the peace deal”, one of the sources said.

Bagega, located close to the Sumke forest that straddles Anka, Bukkuyum, Maru and some communities in Kebbi and Niger States, has many mining sites. Halilu Sububu controlled most mining sites in the area and engaged community residents to mine gold for him.