Nigeria, Sept. 18 -- The State Commissioner for Security, Nasiru Mu'azu, told the BBC HAUSA on Thursday that the demands came during community-led negotiations with the gunmen in areas such as Dan Musa, Jibiya, Batsari, Kankara, Kurfi, and Musawa.

Mu'azu explained that the talks were not initiated by the government but by village leaders who wanted to end years of killings, cattle rustling, and kidnappings.

He noted that the collapse of the state's earlier amnesty programme made insecurity worse, spreading attacks from five local government areas between 2011 and 2015 to 25 by 2023.

"The peace agreement was started by the communities themselves, not by the state government. It was the village leaders who reached out to the gunmen and n...