Bandits attack Zamfara communities, abduct over 40

• According to him, some informants are enabling and collaborating with the bandits in their perennial attacks on Maru communities

Over fourty persons were kidnapped when rampaging bandits terrorising Nigeria’s northern region attacked Zamfara State.

The victims were reportedly abducted from communities in Maru Local Government Area during a series of attacks on the enclaves over the past two weeks.

The unsettling security situation has cast a dark shadow of trepidation, uncertainty and apprehension on the locals of the affected communities.

A resident of Maru town, Alhaji Umar Abdullahi, told newsmen in a telephone interview on Thursday.

He disclosed that the bandits have been carrying out a series of onslaught on the local government headquarters and surrounding communities, abducting residents from their homes.

“Just last week, the bandits stormed our town and conducted house-to-house searches, starting from the Emir’s palace area, and kidnapped seven persons,” he said.

According to him, some informants are enabling and collaborating with the bandits in their perennial attacks on Maru communities.

“Our major challenge is the bandits’ informants, as most of the kidnapped victims are prominent persons in the area,” he lamented.

“As I am talking to you now, there are over 40 kidnapped victims in bandit camps following simultaneous attacks on Maru communities over the past two weeks.”

Speaking further, he noted that the bandits terrorizing the area are operating from camps behind Bakalori Dam (Bayan Ruwa) in Maradun Local Government Area of the State.

“We are in serious trouble because many bandits are relocating to the Maradun camp. There is an urgent need for authorities to dislodge them for peace to thrive.”

He appealed to the federal and Zamfara State governments to urgently deploy more troops to the Maradun area to tackle the Bayan Ruwa bandit camps.

Another resident of the area, Usman Abubakar, described the local government as a “colony of banditry,” stating that the bandits unleash terror at will.

“When the banditry began more than a decade ago, Dansadau, a district of Maru Local Government, was the epicenter. But now, the bandits have spread to all parts of the State, especially Maru Local Government Area,” he said.