Before the coronavirus lockdown, I traveled to north-east and north-west zones of Nigeria. I want to raise alarm over unbridled rape of women, killing of people at will and kidnapping of young and vulnerable women in the deep forest of Niger, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi States. I want to lament how the bandits are having a filled day raping women, killing people recklessly, and kidnapping young women in exchange for ransom. The abandoned residents are fleeing their homes into neighboring towns and states for safety as no help is coming from the government agencies.

At the moment, kidnapping is widespread in the Northern part of Nigeria; while Boko Haram terrorist group abduct young girls for ransom in the North East, the bandits that operate in the North West axis keep, targeting the rich, famous, including poor people in the society for monetary gain.

The upsurge in banditry, kidnapping and bloodletting across the country is quite frightening. The general insecurity is, indeed, worrisome. From Zamfara to Katsina, the bandits are wrecking havoc on hapless citizens. In Zamfara State, over 8,000 women had been made widows by the bandits while 16,000 children… The upsurge in banditry, kidnapping and bloodletting across the country is quite frightening. The general insecurity is, indeed, worrisome. From Zamfara to Katsina, the bandits are wrecking havoc on hapless citizens. In Zamfara State, over 8,000 women had been raped and made widows by the bandits while 16,000 children had become orphans since 2009. The bandits had killed at least 5,000 people and injured more than 9,000 others. Also, over 10,000 houses and silos were destroyed by the bandits.

Kidnappers, bandits and Boko Haram are sexually abusing women and girls in Nigeria. Rape and sexual violence have been widely used as a method of negotiation for ransom against girls and women in Nigeria by kidnappers, bandits and Boko Haram. The use of rape and sexual violence is now a criminal strategy of bandits, kidnappers and Boko Haram. Rape and sexual violence are widely used today in a number of zones by Boko Haram, terrorist group in North-East Nigeria, bandits in North-West Nigeria and kidnappers across Nigeria. Boko Haram fighters have committed rape and gender-based violence, including sexual slavery, rape, forced marriage, and forced pregnancies. The atrocities are widespread. Bandits and kidnappers have used rape and sexual violence as method of negotiation.

Rape and sexual violence used by Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers remain under-reported, and under-discussed in Nigeria. It has to be emphasized that our perception of rape and sexual violence in north-east Nigeria and north-west Nigeria has changed over time. Rape and sexual violence used to be perceived as inevitable by-products of kidnappers, bandits and Boko Haram, the spoils of an invading criminals or a successful conqueror. However, the international community now recognizes that rape and sexual violence is often used as a deliberate criminal strategy to demoralize women and girls. This shift in recognition has been significant, especially as it has allowed for the prosecution of sexual violence against women. In accordance with this new perception, on 19 June 2008, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1820 on the use of sexual violence in crisis, indicating that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a criminal act, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide.”

Armed bandits were on rampage in some Niger communities recently, killing people, kidnapping scores of others, and raping women. The incident took place about 6am at Kudodo, Galapai, Dnakpala, Makera, and Dnalgwa villages of Shiroro Local Government Area. The senator for Niger East Senatorial District, Alhaji Sani Musa, sent an urgent appeal for intervention to the federal government to halt the carnage. The distress message in the aftermath of the attacks was the second by the lawmaker in one week following similar assaults by gunmen.

Suspected herdsmen and bandits followed with their activities spread across the country, unlike Boko Haram that operates mostly in the North-East geopolitical zone.Kidnappers continued with their reign of terror as some victims still don’t live to recount their ordeal.

Just like previous years, perpetrators are as daring as ever while citizens are now more vulnerable than any other time. The absence of accountability for masterminds continues. Borno, Plateau, Niger and Kogi states led with the highest number of deaths in the last 3 years.

Boko Haram accounted for virtually all cases in Borno the same way bandits and herdsmen were responsible for similar incidents across the country.

Boko Haram’s insurgency have dramatically changed the lives of thousands of women and girls, often casting them voluntarily or by force into new roles outside the domestic sphere. Some joined to escape their social conditions; others were abducted and enslaved. Seven years of war have caused gender-specific suffering. While men have dis-proportionally been killed, women are an overwhelming majority among the estimated 1.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North East. As former wives, slaves or fighters, many bear the stigma of association with the insurgents and are barred from reintroduction into their communities, in part because the lines between militant, sympathiser and forced accomplice are blurred. Although Boko Haram faces strong pushback, it remains capable of launching attacks and conducting multiple suicide bombings. Understanding how women experience the conflict, not only as victims but also as actors, needs to directly inform policies and programs to tackle the roots of the insurgency and strategies for curbing it, as well as facilitate women’s contribution to lasting peace.

For instance, while the Boko Haram terrorists, bandits, killer herdsmen, ritualists and armed robbers may push forward patently untenable objectives like religious piety and economic improvement as their motives for taking to crime, what could possibly be the motivation of rapists? If you had lived in denial or underestimated the scale of the crisis, the perception changes henceforth.

As you are reading this, Boko Haram may be on its next mission while bandits and suspected herdsmen may have just concluded killings in some rural communities.

They mostly died in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents, suspected herdsmen, and bandits. Other forms of violent deaths occurred but those earlier mentioned are more recurring with Boko Haram taking the lead.

Sexual violence is a feature of conflicts around the world. In Nigeria, rape and sexual violence has been prevalent for one decade. During this Boko Haram war, sexual violence has been utilised as a cheap weapon of war. Despite the high prevalence and protracted use in history, sexual violence is not an inevitable aspect of war. Rape never happens accidentally. It is a choice to employ or tolerate it, and, therefore, it can be stopped.

Throughout history, belligerent parties have been using rape as a tool to punish, terrorize and destroy populations. In some cases, armies, rebel groups and terrorist organisations employ sexual violence as a strategy to pursue their objectives. In other cases, commanders allow their soldiers to rape women and girls as a form of reward.

Under international law, conflict-related sexual violence are characterised as war crimes and crimes against humanity. When it is committed with the intend to destroy a population, such as during Boko Haram, bandits and kidnapping operations. Rape is rarely the result of uncontrolled sexual desire, but rather a way to exert power and instil fear in victims and their community.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 states that, sexual violence is “a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or an ethnic group.” Rape is used to demoralize and destabilize entire communities. It destroys the cohesion of families and societies, for example when village chiefs are raped in public or sons are forced to rape their mother.

Sexual violence is also used to obtain information, for example as a method of torture in detention centres. During periods of kidnapping, banditry and ethnic cleansing, sexual violence is used to systematically attack the lineage of a group, for example by impregnating or sterilizing women.
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Inwalomhe Donald writes via [email protected] from Gusau, Zamfara State