The Chairman of Bukkuyum Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Abubakar Umar Faru, has claimed that from 2015 till date, bandits have killed more than 1,060 people while the local people in the council have been made to cough out over ₦2.9 billion in ransom payments and other levies imposed on them by the criminal elements.
Faru who made the disclosure while speaking with DCL Hausa Radio on Saturday, lamented the rising insecurity in the council, and stated that all 17 districts under Bukkuyum have suffered immeasurable attacks by armed bandits.
The Bukkuyum Chairman also decried the hunger the people are facing as a result of the destruction of farmlands and the inability of farmers to cultivate their farmlands without paying the levies.
According to him, records available to him has revealed that armed bandits have continued to have a field day, engaging in abductions, kidnappings for ransom, cattle rustling and the ransacking of villages.
“From the records I gathered and compiled in each of the 17 districts in my local government, from 2015 to date, we have lost 1,065 people who were killed by bandits, paid over ₦2.9 billion as ransom for kidnapped victims and levies forcibly imposed on our villages and communities,” Faru said.
“From 2015 to date, armed bandits have rustled 84,928 cows, 52,423 goats and 187 camels across the 17 districts of Bukkuyum Local Government.
“The Gando Forest has remained a major bandits’ den, harbouring criminal activities, stressing that the forest requires decisive military action,” Faru stated, calling on the Federal Government to launch an offensive against bandits operating in the area and in Gando Forest.
Faru further lamented that the escalation of armed banditry has led to the abduction of over 200 people from the Bukkuyum area, including women and children, who are still in captivity.
