Bandits are now reportedly demanding for cooked food as ransom following some measures instituted by state governments to fight insecurity in their states.
A youth leader in one of the villages in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna state, Babangida Yaro, told Daily Trust that since the ban on weekly markets as part of measures to tackle insecurity, bandits operating along Damari, Kutemashi and Kuyello villages only asked for cooked food each time they abduct people.
Revealing that the ban on sale of fuel in filling stations located in rural communities had also helped to restrict movement, the youth leader further disclosed that when the bandits abduct two or three persons in farms, one is allowed to go and get them food from their relatives as ransom since there is no communication network to make contact.
He said: “There is relative peace around Damari, kuyello, Kutemashi because the bandits have stopped attacking our communities. They usually stay in the forest and seize food items mostly cooked ones from vendors.”
Yaro also told the publication that Dogon Dawa area is still not completely safe because villagers are still scared of accessing their farmlands. He lamented that the ban on use of private motorcycles in villages has increased hardship on residents.
