By Musemil Abubakar
The Kaduna State Government says it is offering education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities to repentant bandits under a new peace initiative designed to end years of killings and kidnappings across the state.
Commissioner for Information, Ahmed Maiyaki, disclosed this on Wednesday during a Peace Journalism workshop organised by the NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel in collaboration with the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria and the state Ministry of Information.
Maiyaki said the Kaduna Peace Model replaces confrontation with dialogue, focusing on rebuilding trust and restoring basic services instead of paying ransom or offering financial incentives.
“You cannot bomb peace into existence; you must build it with trust,” he stated.
He explained that many armed groups had asked government to reopen markets, schools, and health centres shut down by insecurity. “We didn’t give them a dime; what we gave was life back to communities long abandoned,” he added.
The commissioner revealed that over 500 captives had been freed through dialogue “without ransom or force,” while more than 500,000 hectares of farmland had been recovered.
Maiyaki cited examples of former bandit leaders who now serve as community peace mediators, saying markets have reopened and commercial activities are returning.
Speakers at the workshop, including Kaduna Polytechnic’s Dr. Fatima Shuaibu and Global Peace Foundation’s Rev. Joseph Hayab, urged journalists to promote peace narratives that foster unity and reconciliation rather than division.
