The horrific raids in rural communities in Zamfara state has been traced to one notorious bandit who goes by the name of Buhari of the bush although his real name is Buhari Tsoho.
According to Vanguard, he was known as “General” by other members of the bandit group while he was known by people in the region as “Buharin Daji’ which means “Buhari of the bush” due to his dreadful nature.
He was born and brought up at Dandundun village in Maru local government area of the state and commanded one of the deadliest bandit group that terrorised the Maru-Anka-Bungudu-Tsafe axis until he engaged security operatives in a peace talk.
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A villager said of him: “Whenever his gang goes for an attack, the aftermath is devastating. He has lots of weapons under his control. He would distribute rifles to his gang members in preparation for an attack after a community has been targeted. Sometimes he would hire out guns to members of other gangs.”
In 2015, it was rumoured that Buhari of the bus had been killed in a gunfight with security operatives prompting jubilations from communities where he operated.
A audio clip allegedly recorded by one of his men indicated a violent confrontation with security operative while a voice could be heard calling on the bandits to be brave and rescue their leader.
The voice said: “They have killed our Buhari! We should stop running away. Some of you should stay and rescue our Buhari. Our Buhari is gone!”
This report was later dismissed as false as he came out expressing willingness to dialogue with the state.
A villager said he was a peaceful man before he ventured into banditry.
He said: “We used to see him in our village, especially when he comes to buy stuff at the market.
Another village privy to information said when Buhari met with the deputy governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala Muhammad and the military; he said he took to arms because of the indiscriminate killing of Fulani people and the use of their grazing routes as farmlands.
“Their major problem is the vigilante group known as ‘Yan Sakai’ whom he accused of taking the law into their hands by killing innocent Fulani nomads for no just cause, without any redress from the government. This, according to him was what prompted the herdsmen and his gang to take up arms for what he called self-defence.”
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He promised to stop raiding and killing as long as the local security were asked to stop killing and arrest of Fulani nomads.
The deputy governor agreed to the peace talk and emphasized that it must be a long-term arrangement.
In December 2015, Buhari of the bush and his over 1000 bandits surrendered their arms at Gidan Jaja village in Zurmi LGA of the state.
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