2,000 residents flee as bandits hijack truck in Zamfara

Suspected armed bandits on Sunday hijacked a truck loaded with goods along Gusau-Magami Road in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The truck heading to Magami from Kano was intercepted by the criminals who asked the driver to move the vehicle inside the forest. 

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Residents said the 50km Gusau-Magami Road had become a death trap for travellers.

Several people plying the road had been killed or abducted by the bandits. Hardly a day passes by without a case of abduction along the road.

“Shortly afterward, soldiers stationed in the Magami community were informed and they pursued the hijackers and a gunfight ensued. The criminals were overpowered and forced to abandon the vehicle.

“However, some of the goods in the truck were carted away by the bandits. The driver was rescued and most of the goods inside the truck including the bandits’ motorbikes were recovered,” a resident identified as Babangida said.

Meanwhile, the residents of Magami have called on the authorities to rescue them from the bandits, saying the criminals have forced them to abandon their farmland.

“No one can go to his farmland. Last Sunday, an 80-year-old farmer was shot dead while he was working on his farm.

“Even this afternoon, we saw farmers running back to the town after they were targeted by the armed men. It is really very calamitous. I can tell you that more than 2,000 residents have fled this community because of the serious insecurity here,” a farmer, Sani Abubakar said.

When contacted, the spokesman for the state Police Command, SP Muhammad Shehu, said he needed more time to comment on the incident.