The Vice-Chairman of Shinkafi
Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Galadima, on Monday said
bandits killed six members of the Civilian Joint Task Force in the area, adding
that the council pays the hoodlums ransoms daily.
Galadima said this when he
received the Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazau, who was in the
state to assess the security threat being posed by banditry and listen to the
challenges facing the people.
Dambazau also visited the Emir of
Bungudu, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, in his palace where stakeholders expressed
their travails at the hands of bandits operating in the state to the minister.
The News Agency of Nigeria
reported that Galadima after highlighting the challenges being faced by the
people of his local government area as a result of banditry said every day “we
pay ransom to bandits.”
He said, “Six members of the
Civilian JTF were attacked and killed on Sunday by the bandits after receiving
their pay from Shinkafi town and were on their way back to their villages.
“Even yesterday (Sunday), these
bandits sent a letter to the district head of Shinkafi town (saying) that they
were coming to attack the town.
“This ugly situation is very
disheartening; every day we pay millions of naira in ransom to these bandits.
We really need government’s urgent support to end this problem.
“Our women also suffer a lot
(because) the bandits attack communities and abduct ladies from their parents’
homes. People no longer sleep with their two eyes closed in the night in
Shinkafi LGA.
“We want the government to
resolve the issue of shortage of troops and police. We only have 19 soldiers in
this town.
“We need urgent intervention from
the government; we are not satisfied with the efforts and strategies of the
security agencies.
“We all know the camps where
these bandits stay; even the security men are aware of these camps; our major
concern is that security personnel are not getting to these bandits.We are
hoping that with this visit, this problem will come to an end.”
According to Galadima, at least
98 communities in Shinkafi LGA have been deserted due to the activities of
bandits in the state.
Dambazau said, “This is not my
first visit to Zamfara; we started this process to ensure lasting solutions to
these problems, not only in Zamfara State.
“President Buhari asked me to
visit Shinkafi and Anka emirates in Zamfara to carry out the assessment and
discuss these issues. The President also expresses his condolence over loss of
lives and destruction of properties as a result of insecurity.
“It is the responsibility of
government to ensure lives and properties are secure. That is why we must do
everything possible to ensure the end of this situation.
“We commenced this process by
meeting with the leaders of Miyetti Allah; we are going to consult with
traditional rulers and governors of the most affected states.”
The Emir of Shinkafi, Alhaji
Muhammad Makwashe-Isah, who praised the minister for the visit, urged the
Federal Government to do more in fighting banditry in the state.
Act fast, we can’t go to farm again, Emir tells FG
At Anka, the stakeholders bore
their minds on the security situation in the state to Dambazau.
The Emir of Anka and Chairman of
Zamfara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, told the minister, who
paid him a condolence visit over the killings in his domain, that no fewer than 13,000 people had fled villages
in his domain because of attacks by bandits.
The traditional rule said the
Federal Government must act fast to enable the people to farm this season.
He stated, “We are happy that the
Minister of Interior has come here to see us and to condole with us over the
tragedy we are experiencing. Now that you are here, our hope of getting rid of
these criminals has been rekindled.
“We have witnessed a lot of
killings and abductions of our people. As I am talking to you now, we have more
than 13,000 people who have left their villages and relocated here (to Anka
town). There are many others at different towns and villages. Some of them have
even left the state.
“So, the issue of farming is not
possible because the people have deserted their villages and unless Federal
Government does something urgent and in time, many people would not have the
chance to farm.”
The minister warned the bandits
operating in Zamfara to either surrender immediately or be killed.
Dambazau said the Federal
Government had made adequate arrangements on how best to tackle banditry and
other insecurity issues affecting the state.
The minister maintained that the
Federal Government would soon deploy adequate security personnel to root out
bandits from Zamfara.
He told the emir that President
Buhari was very much worried over what was going on in the state and promised
to get rid of the bandits within the shortest possible time.
“President Buhari is much worried
about what is currently happening in Zamfara and that is why he sent me to
visit you,” Dambazau said.
He explained that the Federal
Government had mapped out strategies on how best to tackle the security issues
in the state, calling on the people of the state to have patience.
“I want to assure the people of
Zamfara State that the Federal Government would very soon end the killings and
kidnappings in the state. Once again,
warn the bandits to either surrender or face the wrath of the law.”
Meanwhile, some survivors of
banditry and kidnapping, who are taking refuge in various internally displaced
persons’ camps in the North-West, have explained how their communities were
attacked.
While most of the IDPs in
separate interviews claimed their attackers were Fulani, others stated that
bandits levied villagers to avoid attacks.
In Plateau State, although the
survivors were not in the IDPs’ camps, they also claimed their attackers and
abductors were Fulani.
‘Bandits attacked our village because we didn’t accommodate them’
In Sokoto at the Gandi Primary
School IDP camp in Rabah, Salish Ibrahim from
Warwanna village, said security officials failed to arrest the bandits
when the villagers complained about their activities.
Ibrahim, who is a member of the
vigilante group in the village, said, “The bandits attacked our village because
we did not cooperate with them nor accommodate them. There were times they came
to buy foodstuffs, petrol, call cards and other items.
“Our people stopped selling these
things to them when we discovered their identities and we reported to the
government. The government sent security officials but no arrest was made. That was the only
problem we had with them.
“We are left with no option but
to form a vigilante group because in our village we don’t have any security
presence.”
Also at the camp, Ahmed Sidi, a
resident of the Kursa village, lamented his idleness as the planting season
approaches.
Sidi said he was returning from
farm when his village was attacked, adding that “When we saw them in large
numbers armed with guns, nobody told us to take to our heels. We cannot return
home for now because those that attacked us are still loitering around our
villages.”
Bandits asked five villages to pay N20m to avoid attacks – Resident
But a resident of the Aljimma
village in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that the bandits levied
five villages in the area N20m.
He said the bandits asked the
villages to pay the money to avoid attacks.
He stated, “They would send a
representative to our communities asking us to pay a certain amount of money
running into millions of naira as a condition for living in peace. It has
happened to our village and other neighbouring communities.
“Let me give you a breakdown of
villages and the ransoms paid. They placed N10m ransom on Gora community, N5m
on Faru village, N1.5m on Gidan Isah community, the people of Ilankwai village
had to pay N2m while Gidan Baushe village was levied N2.5m . All the villages
paid the levy but I’m not sure whether Gora people were able to meet the
demand.
“I was part of the team that took
the ransom put on our village to the bandits inside the forest. We had to
mobilise ourselves by going from house to house to collect the money in order
to meet the demand. Failure to do so would be very calamitous on us.”
My son was with bandits for many days –Journalist
Narrating his ordeal, a
journalist working with Zamfara Radio, Mallam Adamu Kanoma, revealed hat his
son, Nura, spent many days with the bandits because of non-payment of ransom.
He expressed happiness that the
boy finally escaped from his abductors.
On how to tackle banditry, the
Emir of Bungudu, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, in an interview with one of our
correspondents, said all stakeholders must be involved in solving the banditry
problem.
“Everyone, including the security
agencies, government and traditional rulers, must play a role aimed at bringing
this criminality to an end. Failure or otherwise cannot be attributed to the
security agencies alone,” he said.
My abductors are Fulani – Plateau nurse
In Plateau State, investigations
by one of our correspondents showed that in the past one month, over eight
kidnapping cases were reported in Jos metropolis alone.
The Village Head of Dong in Jos
North Council Area, Augustine Agwom, in an interview said, “We have not
recovered from the shock of the kidnap incident of an 11-year-old boy at Barkin
Ladi only for us to hear again of the abduction of Master Obedience Ishaya, a
pupil of the Government Primary School, Dong. I’m not happy that since his
disappearance more than one month ago, he has not been found.”
Also residents of Rukuba Road
community in Jos North said nearly every night, bandits struck and kidnapped
people.
A nurse in the community, Naomi
Ezekiel, explained how she was kidnapped and released after her husband paid
ransom to her abductors.
She said, “We were already
sleeping in the house around 12.30 am when we were woken up by a loud sound at
the door. Before I knew what was happening, three men, two of them bearing
AK-47 rifles had entered our house.
“They demanded money and when my
husband and I gave them all the money we had with us in the house, they said it
was not enough.
“They said they would go with my
husband claiming that they were sent by somebody to kill him, but my husband,
who had agreed to go with them, escaped before they left the compound and they
came back to the house and abducted me.
“We trekked from the compound to
the bush and after we passed the School of the Deaf; they took me deeper into
the bush. I slept on a mountain inside the bush.
“The people that abducted me were
Fulani from the way they were looking. I don’t like to mention the amount we
paid them to release me but it was in hundreds of thousands of naira, which my
husband provided.”
In Zamfara, it was gathered that
the local governments worst hit by the menace were Maru, Maradun, Zurmi,
Shinkafi, Gusau, Kaura-Namoda and Anka.
A resident of Maru, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said, the bandits that were attacking his people were
Fulani herdsmen.
“Many of them are non-Nigerians
living in the forest areas of the state. Although some of the Fulani are
indigenes of the state, the majority of them come from neighbouring countries
of Niger, Mali and Cameroon,” he added.
He reasoned that the Fulani’s decision
to join banditry could be blamed on cattle rustling.
He said. “One reason is the
stealing of their animals by rustlers, who are also Fulani people from other
countries. Many Fulani lost almost all their animals to rustlers, as such they
were left with no option but to join the bandits since they could not farm or
do any other business to survive.
“The kidnappers have become so
daring nowadays. They send letters to villagers demanding huge amount of money.
They go to collect the money knowing full well that nobody would dare them.”
Kidnappers are not Fulani but bandits – Miyetti Allah
But the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore
has denied the allegations against its members that they demand money from
communities to avoid being attacked.
The National Secretary, Miyetti
Allah, Mr Saleh Alhassan, in an interview, said herdsmen should not be confused
with bandits.
Alhassan said, “I don’t think
it’s true. Where? Who? Was it reported to any security agency? With all this
misinformation going on, is it from a reliable source? Is it the DPO of a
village or a local chief? Are the so-called Fulani herdsmen with herds of
cattle or are they referring to bandits and nobody knows their identity?
“We must be careful because there
is this stereotyping going on. Do we have ungoverned places in this country? I
am not aware and I don’t think it’s true because every inch of this country has
leadership, either traditional, the DPOs or local government chairmen. We have
councillors.
“We must be very careful with the
kind of information we take as serious news. If somebody says someone is paying
to access his land, where? Which northern community? People just want to raise
unnecessary information but we know it’s all part of the larger politics.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com