Tension as suspected bandits are sighted close to Zamfara villages

Apprehension has heightened in some villages in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State after residents spotted dozens of suspected gang of armed bandits on motorbikes, Daily Trust has learnt.

A resident, Ibrahim Hamisu told Daily Trust that he saw the gang of heavily armed bandits riding on about 10 motorcycles, each one carrying three men.

He said, “I was working on my farm alongside my son when I saw them. I quickly advised my son to hide. We all climbed a tree thereafter, and they passed without noticing us. Had they seen us, we would have been finished by now.”

Hamisu further pointed out that fear had already enveloped the residents of villages such as Tamusge, Dawan Jiya, Sabuwar Tunga, Sabon Birni and Zanoka. He said armed bandits had struck the identified communities in recent times, justifying the suspicion that the men on the motorcycles would be another band of bandits on an attack mission.

A couple of weeks ago seven persons were killed in the villages of Tangaran, Dawan jiya and Zanoka in Anka LGA after carting away a herd of camels.

In a similar development, gunmen yesterday raided Kawaye village in the same LGA. They forced their way in to the residence of one Mallam Sani Musa Kawaye, fired shots at him and made away with his belongings.

Musa who spoke with Daily Trust on his sick bed at the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau said the gunmen came banging his door and when he refused to open the door, they started a shooting spree. “When they learnt that I was not willing to open the door they started spraying bullets into the room and I had to dodge by squeezing myself into a corner of the room.”

He said he was moved to the hospital after the attack, recalling, “One of them fired shots through the window and pumped bullets into my leg. They eventually forced the door open, collected N100,000 from me, and warned me not to resist such move in future. Then they fled.”

Another resident, Murtala Kawaye implored the government to come to their rescue as they are under siege. He said armed bandits are striking at will and carting away their animals, and that such attacks have become a daily affair. Responding to the development, the spokesman of the state Police Command, DSP Sanusi Amiru said the command was doing its best to protect the lives and property there.