Over 150 abducted in Gobir following Emir’s killing by bandits
Bandits have abducted over 150 people and rustled over 1,000 cattle in several villages in the Gobir Emirate of Sokoto State.
The incident occurred a few days after the death of the Emir of Gobir, Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, who was also the District Head of Gatawa, in a kidnappers’ den.
On July 29, the monarch was kidnapped along with his son and six others on the Sokoto-Sabon Birni Road.
In a viral video, the deceased, with his hands and legs tied, was seen appealing to the Sokoto State government, the Sultanate Council, his relatives, and friends to help pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
The district head had said that the bandits set a deadline for the payment of the ransom, warning that they would kill him if it was not met.
Hundreds of youths in the area eventually staged protests after the district head’s killing, prompting the state government to impose a curfew on Sabon Birni.
Confirming the latest abductions, Professor Bello Bada of the Department of English at Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, expressed regret that bandits had resumed their brutal operations in the area just a few days after the district head’s death.
He said, “The most painful thing about it is that some important people in the area could access the telephone numbers of the bandits and even have conversations with them. Why? It means the bandits are known.”
“People in the area negotiate with the bandits; this means they know where they are. Why do bandits freely go to markets and sell their cows in the area?
Why is it that about 1,000 cows were carted away by bandits in the area? Do the cows have wings to fly? What about our intelligence? How did the bandits pass through villages and towns without being noticed?
They are taking the rustled cattle into the bush, while at the same time, residents of some communities within the district are mining for gold in the same bush. No, something is wrong. We need to tell ourselves the truth. We have to sit down and address this problem for the future of our children,” the professor said.
A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly representing Sabon Birni (North), Aminu Boza, said a total of 151 people were abducted between Tsamaye and Sabon Birni.
“A day after the death of Sarkin Gobir, the bandits attacked Tsamaye village again, killing some people and abducting an unspecified number of others.
They also attacked Yanfaruna village, abducting 22 people, and then went to the next village, where they abducted 11 more.
So, a total of 192 people have been abducted, and they are still in captivity.”
“Besides the abduction of people, we have lost over 20,000 hectares of land to the bandits. They stopped our people from cultivating the land for several years now. Over 92 per cent of our wealth has been wasted by these bandits,” he said.
Boza alleged that there were no security personnel in most of the banditry-prone areas in Sabon Birni, which include Kwanar Maharba, Turtsawa, Unguwar Lalle, Tagirke and Kwanar Tambazawa.
He said: “Kwanar Maharba is the most dangerous spot among all the spots I have mentioned. Banditry operation is taking place in this particular spot almost daily. Some of our people had to change their route through Niger Republic whenever they are going to Sokoto because it is safer. We don’t have a single security checkpoint along that road.
“The locations of most of the bandits’ leaders are known. Bello Turji, for instance, is residing in Fakai and from Fakai to Shinkafi is a distance of less than three kilometers. Halilu is residing in Tsububu village and Jummo Baki in Gangara village.
“Three days ago, I met the Sokoto State deputy governor and together we are making efforts for the deployment of an additional 1,200 soldiers to Sokoto State and Sabon Birni will get additional security personnel in the next one week”, the lawmaker said.
He said that the deployment of military personnel to the area would significantly reduce banditry.
The lawmaker appealed to the federal government to address the plight of the residents of Sabon Birni.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Sokoto State Command, SP Ahmad Rufa’i, stated that the police had not received a report on the abductions but promised to inquire from the Sabon Birni Divisional Office.
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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