Armed bandits have reportedly abducted over 150 persons and rustled over 1,000 cows in some villages in Gobir Emirate, Sokoto State.
The attack on the villages occurred a few days after the kidnapped Emir of Gobir, Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, who was also the District Head of Gatawa, was killed in captivity.
The monarch was, on July 29, kidnapped alongside his son and six others on the Sokoto-Sabon Birni Road.
In a viral video, the deceased, whose hands and legs were tied, was seen appealing for help to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
When the deadline for the ransom payment passed, Bawa was killed.
Youths in the area staged protests after the killing of the district head, forcing the state government to impose a curfew on Sabon Birni.
It has now been revealed that bandits returned to the area just a few days after the death of the district head.
Professor Bello Bada of the Department of English, Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, confirmed the latest abductions.
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 could even have conversations with them. Why? It means the bandits are known.
“People in the area go for negotiation with bandits; it means they know where they are. Why do bandits go to markets freely and sell their cows in the area?
“Why is it that in the area about 1,000 cows were carted away by bandits? 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 inside the same bush mining for gold. No, something is wrong. We should tell ourselves the truth. We have to sit down and address this problem for the future of our children.”
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 unspecified others.
They also attacked Yanfaruna village and abducted 22 people and they went to the next village and abducted 11 people.
“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.
The lawmaker appealed to the federal government to listen to the plight of the residents of Sabon Birni.
