By Femi Oyelola
At the council chambers of Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Monday, May 4th, the atmosphere was calm but determined. As Governor Uba Sani stood to inaugurate a new peace and security committee, he drew a line that now defines Kaduna’s stance on its long-standing security crisis. There will be no negotiations with bandits.
“Military force alone cannot eliminate insecurity,” the Governor stated clearly in front of a room filled with commissioners, security officials, and development partners.
“We need a comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes of conflict.”
This moment was more than just ceremonial; it marked the creation of the Kaduna State Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Peace and Security Committee—a body the Governor described as a decisive step in a journey of conflict resolution, resilience, and recovery.
For a state that once saw its highways turn into zones of fear, this committee signals a shift from reactive measures to deliberate peacebuilding.
Sani recounted the state’s history. There was a time when bandits and kidnappers operated across large parts of Kaduna.
The Abuja-Kaduna expressway, once a vital commercial route, became notorious for danger. Rural communities in the hinterlands stayed alert. Markets shut down. Over 500 primary schools closed. More than 50 primary healthcare centers ceased operations. The toll was visible in missed harvests, abandoned classrooms, and broken trust.
The administration’s response was the Kaduna Peace Model. It combines targeted security actions with what the Governor calls “non-kinetic” tools: community engagement, intelligence sharing, and addressing issues like poverty, exclusion, and unemployment that drive violence.
Forward operating bases were set up. Cooperation with security agencies strengthened. But Sani emphasizes that the focus has never been on making deals with criminals.
“The Governor has said repeatedly that Kaduna State does not negotiate with bandits,” said Dr. Abdulkadir Muazu Mayere, Secretary to the State Government and chair of the new committee.
“You cannot solve this complex, multidimensional problem with only a kinetic approach.”
Mayere uses a doctor’s analogy to explain the model. “If someone is sick, the first step is to get a proper diagnosis,” he explained.
For Kaduna, that means engaging communities and identifying the root causes of conflict, rather than legitimizing those who use guns against the state.
Signs of recovery are now visible in daily life. Mayere lists them as items being restored: markets that were deserted are reopening, schools that were silent for months are filled with children again, closed primary healthcare centers are providing services, and along the Birnin Gwari corridor, roads previously avoided by motorists now see traffic and commerce.
“Today, people are using those roads and conducting their business,” said Dr. Paul Nyulaku, DDR Technical Advisor involved in the DDR Framework Development Process and the Harmonization of DDR Initiatives in Nigeria. “That’s a huge sign of peace.”
Supported by the UK Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiN) program, Nyulaku is helping the new committee review and improve the Kaduna model.
No system is perfect, he admits. The current task is to assess, enhance, and close gaps. The committee itself reflects this goal, as it is inter-ministerial—comprising Justice, Environment, the Interfaith Bureau, and other ministries, all under the SSG’s leadership. “The right people are on the committee,” Nyulaku said. “That’s why it will succeed.”
Kaduna’s role as a pilot state for Nigeria’s national DDR framework adds significance to the effort. Developed by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the National Counter-Terrorism Center, the framework shifts from reactive firefighting to structured pathways for peace.
Governor Sani thanked both the federal office and the UK SPRiN Program for their support. “We are determined not only to implement but to demonstrate that peace can be deliberately built, carefully nurtured, and sustainably maintained.”
Yet the Governor and his team are careful to separate peacebuilding from impunity. Dialogue, Sani explained, is with communities and stakeholders whose trust had eroded.
That engagement, he said, has encouraged some groups to lay down arms and enabled farmers to return to their lands. It is not, and will not be, a bargaining table with bandits.
Abimbola Wonosikou, the Director of Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism at the National Counter Terrorism Center, contextualized the distinction nationally.
She explained that the committee aligns with a framework developed from consultations across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. The consensus was clear: every state should establish DDR structures.
DDR, she noted, is a globally recognized strategy for removing arms, dismantling violent groups, and reintegrating affected individuals. It serves as the foundation for reconciliation and long-term stability.
But Nyulaku cautions against conflating DDR with amnesty. The word became shorthand in Nigeria after the Niger Delta Program, he said, but amnesty is only a subset of DDR, applied to pardonable offenses.
“It’s not every crime that is pardonable,” he said. “Criminal crimes—if you violate the criminal law, you are not entitled to amnesty.”
Under the process, some individuals may qualify for deradicalization and alternative livelihoods. Others, accused of atrocious crimes or crimes against humanity, must face justice.
“DDR is not an escape route,” Nyulaku said. “It is a peacebuilding tool, and it is not where persons who have committed a crime go to hide so that they can escape punishment.”
For Kaduna, that clarity is the point. The Kaduna Peace Model, officials argue, is working because it refuses to trade accountability for calm. Schools have reopened. Markets are busy. Roads once abandoned are in use.
The state is betting that sustainable peace comes from diagnosis and treatment, not from deals with those who caused the sickness.
As the new committee begins its work, Mayere said it will serve as a practical tool to consolidate gains, manage transitions, and prevent a slide back into conflict.
The message from Sir Kashim Ibrahim House was unambiguous: the doors to dialogue with communities are open. The doors to negotiation with bandits remain shut.
