Suleiman Umaru
The Bandits who could no longer bear the heat from the Police and military personnel in Zamfara state and relocated to theforests in neighbouring Sokoto appears to have turned their gun against the people. Only recently Abdullahi Gobir, a Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria, had cried out about the activities of the Zamfara Bandits in his home state, Sokoto, appealing to the military to step up their onslaught against the Criminal elements before turning the Caliphate state into another Zamfara.
The cash strapped Bandits who were used to making cheap money in Zamfara, Kaduna and the north central state of Niger, home state of Ibrahim Babangida, a retired army General and former military Ptesident through kidnap of students and other innocent citizens to ask for ransom from the families of the victims or the state government to facilitate their release or be killed, were said to have killed over 20 persons and kidnapped 27 persons in two Communities in Sabon Birni Local government area of the state during the attack.The Bandits gang were said to have demanded the sum of N20 million ransom to facilitate the release of the 27 abducted indigenes of the two Communities attacked in Sabon Local Government Area. They were said to have also killed for residents of of Gangara town in the state.
The Bandits had shown that they were not Nigerians as they were said to have engaged the services of one of the kidnapped persons to write a letter in the Housa Language which was said to have been addressed to Sarki Rafin Burkusuma, the district head of the Area. They were said to have informed the Sokoto Monarch the he has to hasten up to pay the N20 million demanded to facilitate the release of the 20 indigines of Gatawa and Burkusuma Communities in their custody .Perhaps to ensure that the letter gets to the appropriate quarters, one of the abducted victims, was said to have been released to take it to Gatawa through the the Sarkin Rakin Burkusuma.
They may have tried to gladden the heart of the Monarch in their written Letter when they stated that the victims, comprising of nine males and eight females and two children are all in good health and doing great’’. Many believe that the bandits may have resorted to sending out Letters to families of victims due to the the shutdown of Communication facilities in the bandits terrorised Local government Area of Sokoto state by the telecommunication Companies at the instance of Amunu Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and now, the state governor, who has sworn an Oath of office in May 29, 2019, ‘’to protect lives and property.
The increased level of Banditry in Sokoto state, particular, within the Local government Areas close to Zamfara state is giving Sa’ad Abubakar II, the Sultan of Sokoto state , a cause for concern, that he has urged the security operative to beef up security in the state to stop the assault.
Meanwhile, the Zamfara state Command, in its hunt for the bandits in some of their identified Camps in the state , had arrested Bello Ruga, described as one of the notorious Commanders of the Bandits who was said to be in-charge of the Bandits Camps in Gummi, Gida Bita , Malankere amd Kagara, forests in Gummi ,Local government Area of the state.
Ruga, the Bandits top Command was said to have led several operations in the Gummi Local government Area, that had resulted in the killing of scores of people and the abduction of several other people and millions of naira ransom paid to facilitate their release.
The military and police hunt for Ruga, the bandits top Commander may have started when it became obvious that he was the arrow head who had Coordinated the operations in Gummi Local government Area and its environs. In one of the Nigerian Air For , NAF, operations in the state last May, to support the ground troops, in the north western geo-political region, state, the troops of 8 Division operating in Zamfara, Kaduna and Sokoto states, were said to eliminated many of the Bandits top Commanders . The Troops of the 8 Division, were said to cleared many of the bandits camps in Jaya, Kadaya and Bayan Ruwa. The troops were said to have also other bandits camps around Gabiya, Boozaya Mereri and the adjoin forests in Maru Local government Area .
Ibrahim Dorsara, the Zamfara state Commissioner for Information had said that there are over 100 bandits camps in the state with 32,000 arms wielding followers scattered all over the forests in the state and the adjoin states of Kaduna, Katsinaand Sokoto.
Informed sources told The Value News that between April 2, 2021 and now, since the military decided to take the military Campaigns to bandits Camps in the forests of Zamfara, the bandits were said to have been successful cleared in their hideouts and camps, forcing some of the top Commanders to relocate to Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi states, which have forests to set up new camps to sustain the tempo of their attacks in the north west geo-political region and its environs.
Not many people were surprised at the gradual turnaround of the insecurity situation in Zamfara state. President Muhammau Buhari, a retired army General, was said to have assured Bello Matawalle, the then Opposition People’s Democratic, PDP, governor of the state, of full military support to clear the state of Bandits, on one condition that he decamps to ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, to make the region a safe haven for the party.
Given that Matawalle, the Zamfara state governor, need the Presidential support to clear the state of the bandits may have informed why he bowed to pressure to join the ruling APC. True to the Nigerian President promise to give the Zamfara governor all the necessary support to clear the state forests of the bandits, he did not hesitate in doing so, leaving a few of the bandits in the state who are still carrying out pockets of attacks to show that they are still operating in the state.
The height of their operations in the General Babangida, rtd, home state was the kidnap of Ibrahim Musa, the Permanent Secretary in the state ministry of Transportation and his son, on Friday, October 1, 2021, in Wushshi, Local government Area of the state, described by Abubakar Sani Bello, the state governor as ‘’evil and inhuman’’.
Indeed, in Collaboration with the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram and the Islamic State of the West African Province, ISWAP, Insurgents, were said to have captured 500 Communities in eight wards of Shiro Local government Area. Note that this is the Council Area, where the Shiro Dam, a Hydro-electricity plant is located in Niger state.The Criminal elements occupation of the 500 Communities, according to a ministry of Power official in the state had adversely affected power generation and distribution in the country in the recent time.
Suleiman Chukuba, the Council Chairman, had listed some of the occupied Communities by the killer gangs to include Manta, Gurmana, Bassa-kokki, Allawa, Kurebe, Kushaka, Kwati, Chukuba and Galaduma -kogo. They were said to have encouraged the Youths to support the killer gangs cause of fighting the government that could not provide their needs with lots of enticing rewards: money and arms .
It is not surprising why the Chukuba, the Shiroro, Council Chairman, has called on the Katsina state-Nigerian President to give approval to Farouk Yahaya, a Lt.General and Chief of Army Staff , CoAS, to deploy more troops to the Local government Area ‘’to help dislodge the Criminal elements who have made it their home’’. Recall that Bello, the state governor, had raised alarm last February that there is danger in Shiroro Local government Area when the Bandits and the Borno state based BokoHaram Insurgents Collaborators hoisted the Group Flag in Kaure village, one of the Communities in the Council Area.
Many had expected the Police and the military to move into the Village in full force to dislodge the Criminal elements but nothing appears to have been done to save the situation.
