A notorious bandit kingpin, identified as Jammo, has seized 50 elders in Zamfara State.
The selected elders who are from Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State were seized during a peace mission to the bandit leader.
The elders had visited him in his enclave to negotiate and secure a peace deal with him to end incessant kidnap of women, children and aged ones in the local government
The victims, all from Magamin Diddi village in the Magami/Faru ward, were reportedly lured into the Muntsira Forest under the guise of peace talks, only to be taken hostage by Jammo and his gang.
Confirming the incident to our correspondent, the Chairman of Maradun Local Government, Hon. Bello Dosara, stated that the elders embarked on the mission without government clearance.
“We are against reconciliation with bandits, and Governor Dauda Lawal has never supported such moves.
“Unknown to us, the people chose to proceed with it independently,” Dosara said.
The Chairman expressed frustration over the development, noting that the local government had been providing weekly security escorts to help the villagers bypass a market blockade previously imposed by the same bandits.
“I wonder why they went to meet their rivals.
“They blocked access to the market, and I have been supporting the community with security every week to ensure they can trade and return home safely,” he added.
It was gathered that while 50 people were initially seized, the bandit leader released 11 of them to return to the village and deliver his demands.
Thirty-nine elders remain in captivity.
The Councilor for Magami/Faru ward, Bello Husseini, revealed that the abduction was a trap rooted in a previous conflict.
According to Husseini, the state’s security outfit, ‘Askarawa,’ had earlier killed two of Jammo’s lieutenants and recovered their rifles.
In a reprisal attack during the last Ramadan fast, the bandits killed two security personnel and seized their firearms.
“Jammo requested reconciliation after another of his boys was killed in a recent military operation at Kandare village.
“The community sent a 50-man committee in good faith, but he betrayed them,” Husseini explained.
The bandit kingpin is now reportedly demanding ₦24 million as a condition for the release of the elders, citing the cost of the three rifles seized during previous encounters with security forces.
Local leaders have used the incident to call for a decisive military offensive against the “Dajin Natsira” forest, which they described as a primary hub for banditry affecting seven local government areas, including Talata Mafara, Bakura, Anka, and Gummi.
“We are against any form of reconciliation because these people are untrustworthy.
“They speak one truth against a hundred lies,” Husseini said.
“The forest has never been targeted by security forces. If the government bombs that forest, peace will return to a large portion of the state.”
The Chairman and the Councilor jointly appealed to Governor Dauda Lawal and the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to launch an urgent operation to rescue the hostages and clear the criminal hideouts.
At the time of filing this report, the Zamfara State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement regarding the abduction.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
