Armed men known locally as bandits have accused the Nigerian government of driving them into terrorism, during a renewed “peace agreement” meeting held on Saturday in Katsina State.

The peace meeting, attended by community leaders and local government chairmen from Charanchi and Batagarawa Local Government Areas, was aimed at ending the recurring attacks, kidnappings, and cattle rustling that have plagued the region for years.

At the gathering, one of the armed men spoke publicly to residents, alleging that the roots of the insurgency lay in political manipulation and neglect by the authorities rather than independent criminal motives.

“It was the government that wanted us to engage in banditry, but now it has called us and told us to stop. Therefore, by God’s grace, we have stopped from today,” one of the bandit leaders declared.

He continued, blaming the persistence of insecurity on political will rather than capability:

“If the government wants all this insecurity to end, they have the power to end it — but they don’t want it to end. For the past two months, we have been trying to initiate a peace talk, but they didn’t know where we were hiding. When they decided to meet us, they found us today.”

The bandit spokesman added that peace or continued violence depended on the Nigerian leadership:

“Peaceful coexistence and the end of insecurity depend on the Nigerian leaders. If they want us to keep attacking, we will. But if they want peace, we will also make it happen. Despite people saying we are attacking, it is the government that made us do it.”

He urged citizens not to direct their anger solely at armed groups but at the political system he accused of fuelling the violence.

“You oppressed citizens — if you want to cry, don’t cry with us, the ‘terrorists.’ Cry with your government, for they are the ones who made us do what we have been doing.”

The controversial remarks come amid growing criticism of recurring peace negotiations between state officials and armed groups, many of which have previously collapsed following renewed violence.

Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, once again defended bandits operating across northern Nigeria, describing them as aggrieved groups on “revenge missions” rather than unprovoked aggressors.

In an interview on Trust TV monitored by SaharaReporters, Gumi argued that the Fulani herdsmen and bandit groups “do not attack people without any cause.”

“The former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, went with a government delegation into the bush and met more than 5,000 bandits. They were all complaining — those who had lost parents, brothers, or suffered from hostility,” Gumi said.

While acknowledging that the killings carried out by bandits were “wrong and obnoxious,” the cleric maintained that their violence stemmed from grievances and cycles of revenge.

“Yes, I know they have killed, and it’s wrong to kill anybody innocent. But if you know their psychology, they are on a revenge mission,” he added.

Gumi, who has long advocated amnesty and dialogue for armed groups, argued that Fulani herdsmen have historically lived peacefully with other ethnic groups and are now reacting to injustices they have endured.

“Everybody knows the herdsmen. They don’t just attack people. We have lived with them for centuries,” he insisted.

He urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to focus on rehabilitation and reconciliation rather than relying solely on military offensives, which he claimed have only deepened resentment in the region.