Residents of Dansadau in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State are celebrating two months of peace that followed a truce in November between farming communities and cattle herders, including armed bandits, in the district.
Mr Umar said a leader of the bandits, Ali Kacallah, initiated dialogue when he sent emissaries to Dansadau community in the first week of November. He said the community realised it could not wait for the government to secure the area and thus agreed to engage the bandits in dialogue if it would bring about peace.
Also, the bandits agreed to release the people kidnapped from Dansadau unconditionally, Mr Umar said. He said herders had joined the Dansadau community in contributing money for the repairs, to show their seriousness on the peace deal.