The acting executive secretary of the Zamfara Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA), Alhaji Aminu Umar, has said, in Gusau, that 227 people were kidnapped in the state from December 2018 to date.
He further explained that, during the period under review, 408 people were killed, 126 injured and 248 houses destroyed, adding that the figures could be higher because many cases had gone unreported.
He said 31,402 were displaced following the unending deadly attacks on their communities by the armed bandits and cattle rustlers over the years.
Residents in the state, Daily Trust learnt, are very cautious plying major routes to avoid being kidnapped both in the day and at night.
“Routes such as Gusau-Magami-Dansadau, Kuceri-Danjibga-Keta-Wanke, Kaura- Namoda -Moriki-Shinkafi and Zurmi-Jibia – Katsina are very risky, especially at nights. This is not to say that one can not be kidnapped even at day time,” a resident Aliyu Ashiru said.
Two weeks ago, 26 people were kidnapped and two were killed while six others sustained gun shot wounds when armed bandits laid seige to a mosque when the victims were praying around 5: 40 am in Dansadau district. The bandits are demanding for N20m ransom.
“Hardly a day passes without you hearing about incidents of kidnapping in Zamfara State. It has become a daily affair here and this has forced many people to restrict their movements, especially in the rural areas. Nowhere is safe not even the state capital,” a resident Sani Shu’aibu said.
