Again, bandits abduct 150 villagers in Zamfara

Suspected bandits, on Friday abducted 150 persons, mostly women and children in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State. The bandits also killed one person during the operation that lasted for hours, a resident said.

This is coming barely a week after the abduction of 17 persons in Ruwan Dorawa village of the same local government area.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the armed bandits attacked six villages of Mutunji, Kwanar-Dutse, Sabon-Garin Mahuta, GamaGiwa, Bulakke and Unguwar Kawo during the operation.

According to a source, the bandits abducted 18 persons in Mutunji village, 32 people in Kwanar-Dutse, 30 in UnguwarKawo, 22 others in Sabon-Garin Mahuta in Maru and seven people in Bulakke in Maradun local government areas of the state.

The source added that the bandits also entered Maru town but they did not abduct anybody.

It was equally learnt that some villages around Maru town were attacked, but it could not be immediately ascertained the number of people abducted from there.

A resident of the area who craved anonymity said the bandits were reportedly provoked by the residents for their inability to pay the N200million levy they demanded.

He said the terrorists, who stormed the affected villages around 9pm on Friday, carried out the operation at the four villages simultaneously.

He said, “Immediately they entered Mutunji village they started firing gunshots sporadically into the air to scare the residents. As expected, people started running for their lives.

“The bandits then apprehended the weak among the residents, who are mostly women and children. Of course the strong ones among the residents escaped.

“While they were operating, I tried to call a friend in the neighbouring village of KwanarDutse but he told me that they were also under attack.”

He said that as at the time he was speaking with him, he was in the bush, together with some people after escaping from the bandits.

Another resident who also craved anonymity said the bandits might be from the same gang but divided themselves into four, with each group attacking one village.

“We learnt that after the separate operations in the four villages, they regrouped and dragged the abductees into the bush,” he said.

He described the situation as unfortunate, as according to him, the activities of bandits is gradually going out of hand in Zamfara state.

“The bandits are now attacking villages and abducting their victims at will without having any resistance from the security personnel. In fact, residents have now being left on their own. We are not expecting any assistance from the security personnel whenever the bandits are operating,” he said.

Residents have appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid by providing them with adequate security personnel.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the operation was carried out by the notorious bandit kingpin, Damina.

When contacted, the police public relations officer, Zamfara State command, DSP Yazid Abubakar, said only the military could comment on the attack because Dansadau axis is covered by them, precisely the Operation Hadarin Daji.