Bandits raid 4 Zamfara villages, abduct ‘150’ residents

Bandits abducted 150 persons, mostly women and children, in Maru local government area of Zamfara state, on Friday.

They also killed one person during the operation that lasted for hours, according to a resident.

This is coming barely a week after 17 persons were abducted in Ruwan Dorawa village of same local government.

Daily Trust learnt that the bandits attacked four villages of Mutunji, Kwanar-Dutse, Sabon-Garin Mahuta and Unguwar Kawo during the latest operation.

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A resident of Mutunji, one of the villages attacked, said the bandits who stormed the affected villages around 9pm on Friday, carried out operation across four villages simultaneously.

He said: “Immediately they entered Mutunji village, they started firing gunshots sporadically into the air to scare the residents. As expected, people started running for their lives.

“The bandits then apprehended the weak among the residents who were mostly women and children. Of course, the abled ones among the residents escaped. While they were operating, I tried to call a friend in the neighbouring village of Kwanar-Dutse to seek for help but he told me that they were also under attack.

“Ibrahim told me that as at the time I was speaking with him, he was in the bush together with some people after escaping.”

Another resident, who also craved for anonymity, said the bandits might be of same gang, but divided themselves into four with each group attacking one village.

“We learnt that after the separate operations in the four villages, the bandits regrouped and dragged the abductees into the bush. The bandits are now attacking villages and abducting their victims at will. They no longer face any resistance from security personnel. In fact, residents have now been abandoned. We don’t receive any help from the security personnel whenever the bandits operate.

“The issue is that even if you inform the security or the traditional rulers nothing is being done to prevent such attack. Sometimes, we get to know about the coming of the bandits but even if we inform the concerned authorities, that will not make any positive impact.”