The Sunday market in Jibia, Katsina State, has sprung back to life. Motorbikes rumble under heavy loads, traders argue over prices, and children weave happily through the stalls. Just a few years ago, this market stood deserted after armed bandit gangs — mostly Fulani groups — shattered the fragile coexistence between Hausa farmers and Fulani herders. Villagers were robbed, kidnapped, or killed, forcing farmers to abandon their fields and traders to avoid the roads.
Now, Hausa farmers trade side by side with Fulani herders again, and merchants from neighbouring Niger have returned. In a twist, even the bandits who once terrorized the town now openly sell cattle and grain here. The reason, whispered in every corner, is the same: a deal has been struck. Elders, clerics, and traders sat with bandit leaders earlier this year, desperate to end the violence.
The talks brought temporary relief. Kidnappings and killings fell sharply, and the market slowly revived. But the peace feels precarious. “Today we are free to sell, but tomorrow, if they change their mind, we will pay again with our lives and our resources,” one trader explained. The irony remains — the very men who caused the terror now decide when calm will hold.
This uneasy arrangement mirrors a broader pattern across Katsina and northwest Nigeria. Communities, exhausted by violence and lacking reliable security, accept fragile truces just to survive. For many, peace has not been achieved — only borrowed.
