Farmers Flee farms as Bandit Threats Hit 23 LGs in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi

Residents of at least 23 local government areas in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states are battling to survive as kidnappers, cattle rustlers and bandits activity has become irresistible and making live difficult.

The News Agency of Nigeria’s investigation reveals that residents of the affected areas have been forced to leave, make a deal with the criminals, or live in uncertainty.

According to locals in Sokoto State, Isa, Sabon Birni, Gwadabawa, Illela, Tangaza, and Goronyo local government areas are the worst affected.

According to information obtained by NAN, people in the affected LGAs were compelled to abandon their farms, and some villages had become deserted.

According to Mallam Abubakar Bawa, the governor’s chief press secretary, the state government is aware of how serious the situation is.

“We are prioritizing creating a secure environment, Bawa said.

“The first item on our administration’s nine-point agenda continues to be addressing security challenges.

“As a government, it is our goal to make sure that people live peaceful lives and can close their eyes at night.

According to Bawa, the Nigerian Army, police, and other security agencies have been working nonstop to keep the areas secure.

Additionally, ASP Ahmad Rufai, the spokesman for the Sokoto State Police Command, stated that Ali Kaigama, the commissioner of police, had been interacting with locals to facilitate the flow of useful information to address banditry and other crimes.

The local governments in Sokoto State’s eastern regions, according to the police spokesman, were most negatively impacted by the security issues.

Faruk Shehu, a member of the civil society in Zamfara State, claimed that many communities within the state’s 14 local government areas (LGAs) have experienced displacement, with residents of the Maru, Anka, Shinkafi, Maradun, Zurmi, Gusau, and Bungudu LGAs being the worst affected.

Attempts to negotiate with the bandits in the past, according to Shehu, had failed, which had led to an escalation of the state’s security issues.

Shehu stated that the state’s security issues “started as cattle rustling and later evolved into banditry and kidnapping.”

He expressed the hope that the ongoing talks between Governor Dauda Lawal and the military and other security agencies would result in a stepping up of attacks against the bandits to secure the areas they have taken over.

Mallam Abubakar Nakwada, the secretary to the state government, declared that unlike previous administrations, the current administration would never engage in dialogue with bandits, preferring instead to support security forces in their efforts to subdue the criminals.

According to Bamaiyi An’iko, the Secretary of the Zuru Development Foundation, between 2019 and 2023, the situation in Kebbi State has already claimed the lives of at least 2,500 people.

An’iko claimed that the 2,500 victims were killed in the Zuru Emirate’s Danko, Wasagu, Fakai, Sakaba, and Zuru LGAs.

He added that some of the communities near Bena, Danko, and Wasagu had come under siege or were completely under the control of the bandits. He claimed that bandits have been attacking and displacing rural communities in the emirate.

The secretary of the foundation stated that “some communities had to sign an agreement with the bandits” and that “there are a lot of internally displaced persons who require urgent provision of relief materials, including food and toiletries, clothes and mats.

He pleaded with the state government and other organizations to continue helping the IDPs with relief efforts.