Three communities in Isa local government area of Sokoto state have been deserted as the ultimatum given to them by suspected bandits to raise some money to them or risk their attack elapsed Monday.
The communities are Gidan Rana, Babu Dole and Gidan Sale.
Daily Trust gathered that the bandits had demanded for millions of Naira as ransom from the three villages and given them up to Monday to pay the money or be attacked.
An impeccable source told Daily Trust that two truckloads of villagers left Gidan Sale village and headed towards Sabon Birni local government area, while only two households were spotted at Gidan Rana.
All the females and children were said to have fled Babu Dole Village by Sunday night but another source said some of them had started coming back to their homes.
Malam Nuhu Isa who was head of one of households left behind at Gidan Rana told Daily Trust that all he and his elder brother and their families preferred to stay and protect their villages even with their last blood.
“We will not succumb to their threat. We will rather stay and fight them than run away,” he said
He said that the bandits demanded for one million Naira which they had resolved not to give.
“I wanted to send my wife and children to the neighbouring village but she (my wife) had made up her mind to remain with us. So we are here waiting for them,” he said
Isa who spoke to our reporter around 8pm said the leader of the bandits, one Mande, was born in their village and his father was his friend.
He added that the bandits had also issued the same notice to the people of Gidan Sale and Babu dole village which were also deserted.
“But I learnt that some of them have started coming back,” he said
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the state, ASP Ibrahim Abarass described the threat as a rumour.
He said their investigation revealed that it was a rumour peddled by some of the villagers but it did not emanate from any armed bandits.
“When we called one of the numbers used by the suspected bandits, the owner was from the village and was not even in the state,” he said.
The Chairman of Isa Local Government Council, Col Garba Moyi (rtd), said the situation was under control as a combined teams of security agencies had been deployed to the areas.
He encouraged the villagers to return to their homes, assuring them of their safety.
“The bandits are not from Sokoto because we had reached an agreement with our own bandits who had since renounced banditry and surrendered their weapons and are assisting us in maintaining peace in our areas,” he said.
