How Bandits Coerce Farmers To Rustle Cows As Ransom In Katsina
The (Containment) Order signed into law by the governors of Katsina, Zamafara, and Kaduna on targets to combat insurgency and banditry has reshaped the activities of the armed bandits in the state of Katsina.
There has been a recycling of information pointing to a victory in the war against the armed bandits since the contaminants order was signed into law, but the fact is far from the fabricated reality as more villages sleep in danger while the bandits tactically keep winning by sacking villages, kidnapping for ransom, raping women and children, rustling cows, and killing innocent lives.
KIDNAPPED VICTIMS DURING CONTAINMENT ORDER
Murtala Bello, a farmer in the Kankara local government area of Katsina state, was kidnapped by a well-known gang of armed bandits led by a notorious figure., Alhaji Illiya, who settled in Zango village of Kankara LGA as the village head.
Bello was kidnapped on the 8th of October 2021 alongside five of his brothers while harvesting rice on their father’s farm which is 1km away from the Kankara town.
On the bandits’ arrival, they set fire to two motorcycles belonging to the Bello brothers, after stealing the fuel from the bikes and beating the kidnapped victims until they were terrified before threatening to kill them.
The armed bandits began squabbling after the threat. Some intended to murder the Bello and brothers, while others intended to keep them as hostages until one of the gang leaders roared at the rest of the group, ordering that no one kill the kidnapped victims. Bello said
BANDITS USE KIDNAPPED VICTIMS AS SHIELDS IN RUSTLING
However, the bandits then inquired if Bello and his brothers had ever stolen before. They all said no, so he detailed the terms of their freedom, which included rustling cows.
They will release them free if they succeed, but if they do not, they will hold them hostage until a ransom is paid.
In this manner, we followed each tune of their order to save our lives, “Belo continued.
We trekked more than 40 kilometers from Kankara to Daiyi, a community in Kano’s neighboring state, where they rustled cows belonging to Fulani settlers in the wilderness.
We were all scared to run and keep walking together with them because they might clash with the Nigerian troops or vigilantes while going back to their destination in Kankara.
As a result, I instructed my brothers to flee whenever they spotted my absence, as I would never follow the bandits to their camp.
They searched with their torchlight after Bello’s disappearance, but luckily they did not fund him; even though they shot repeatedly, they couldn’t hit him.
They later freed the rest as promised, around 4 am when they were about to head to their camp located at Zango.
Similarly, about four more people were kidnapped in the Mabai Gatakawa area of the Kankara local government area.
The bandits stole the fuel from the lory conveying the harvested rice before kidnapping the victims.
A few days after the incident, they freed one of the people held captive with a written demand for ransom to the owner of the farm.
More people’s lives are jeopardized
Daily Episode investigations show that troops may be killing civilians in a faceoff with the armed bandits while attempting to rustle cows, as the bandits have acquired a new dimension in dragging farmers into the illegal conduct.
The bandits have taken various methods of placing more individuals at risk. The risk of implying blameless residents might represent the deficiency of a few lives.
To save lives and avoid falling into the new bandit trap, the government should reconsider eradicating bandits.
EFFORTS OF SECURITY SINCE THE CONTAINMENT ORDER
The Kankara police division, in coordination with local vigilantes, successfully repelled an attack and attempted rustle of more than 70 cows in the Gidan Nagaban Katsina village of the Kankara local government area on the 10th of October.
According to authorities, one bandit was neutralized, but the identity of the dead victim is still being investigated by Daily Episode.
The government has deployed troops from the Nigerian Army and men from the Nigerian police in the bandits’ remote areas of Katsina since December 2020.
The deployment is going like a snail as the armed bandits carry out increasingly lethal attacks on villages despite the presence of security operatives.
However, the containment order is expected to be similar to earlier operations in which troops deployed in Katsina state have yet to get their allowances.
Mr. Isah Gambo, police spokesperson in Katsina state police command, subsequently did not receive Daily Episode correspondence call regarding the allowances of the Nigerian police deployed in the state of Katsina and viable remedies to avoid killing innocent kidnapped civilians.