High on the agenda – for both sides – was the release of those kidnapped. The BBC does not know how many people were released in Jibia, but 37 villagers had been freed in Kurfi, another area of Katsina state, by late September – a month after a deal was struck.
“We had to accept the peace offer because there was no end in sight to the violence,” said Mr Sabiu.
“This is a crisis that the police should handle but the security agencies were brought in and yet, they couldn’t end it.”
Audu Abdullahi Ofisa, a bandit leader who took part in the Jibia talks, endorsed the move towards peace: “Life is full of ups and downs, we are happy to go into another phase.”
Rural communities stand to gain from a return to peace, but what is less immediately obvious is why bandits have entered into peace processes – especially in cases where gold mines were not part of the deals.
Access to ransom money has traditionally made banditry a lucrative endeavour, yet in Kurfi, it was bandit leaders who requested peace talks.
They live relatively nomadic lives, which makes access to clean drinking water difficult. It also drives up the prices of food because they are not able to access markets.
Life had become expensive and uncomfortable.
“We are all tired of violence,” Nasiru Bosho, one of the bandit leaders who took part in the Kurfi peace negotiations, told the BBC.
“We were all living together in the same community until the unfortunate violence began. We have agreed to live and let live. No more harassment or kidnapping by either side.”
There is also a view that such communities have been bled dry and can no longer come up with ransom payments.
While peace deals in the north like those struck in Kurfi and Jibia have yielded tentative security gains, analysts say that this has only shifted insecurity.
Some gangs may find it more rewarding to set their sights on regions further south.
“As you move further south, people are better off economically,” said Mr Nwaugwe.
“The more these gangs push southwards, the more they’re likely to find places that they can attack. Parents in those schools are more able to gather enough funds to pay ransoms.
“In a lot of the north-west whole rural communities have been vacated. Anybody that has the means, has left the rural areas to run towards the major city centres.”
Some have questioned whether the resurgence in attacks in the last few weeks is linked to Donald Trump’s recent threats of military intervention in Nigeria.
The US president criticised the Nigerian government for failing to adequately protect Christians from attacks by Islamist insurgents.
A jihadist insurgency erupted in the north-east of the country in 2009 – and the kidnapping of more than 200 girls by Boko Haram militants from Chibok 11 years ago was one of the first mass abductions.