Bandits were said to have killed three persons and abducted at least 64 others on Saturday at Fegin Baza village in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
NAN yesterday gathered that children and women were among the abductees taken to an unknown destination.
Four other people were said to have sustained gunshot wounds during the attack and were taken to Tsafe General Hospital.
Among those killed was a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Umaru Moriki, along the Gusau-tsafe Road, near Fegin village.
Moriki, who was said to be gunned down while travelling to Kaduna, was the Sarkin Fadan Moriki.
The incident happened a day after the Minister of State for Defence and former government of the state, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, visited the state and announced that the Defence Headquarters had deployed fresh troops.
The minister had also told the people of the state that he would be meeting the troops to give the marching order to deal decisively with criminals. “Zamfara will no longer bow to fear. We are taking every necessary step to secure every community,” he had told the crowd.
During his visit, Matawalle also questioned the utilization of federal allocations received so far within the last two years. “Zamfara has collected over one trillion naira. Show me what they have done with it,” he had said.
Zamfara State is one of the epicentres of banditry in the North West with recurrent attacks on villages, highways and farming communities.
Despite multiple military operations, peace initiatives and security deployments, large numbers of armed groups continue to operate across forested areas of the state.
The latest abductions in Tsafe add to a long list of killings, mass kidnappings and cattle rustling incidents that have forced thousands of residents to flee their homes.
In recent months, many communities in Zurmi, Shinkafi, Maradun, Tsafe and Bungudu Local Government Areas of the state had come under attacks which had left many villagers displaced, compelled to pay levies and ransoms to bandits.
Witnesses told our correspondents that the bandits, who struck at Fegin Baza on Saturday, were over 30 in number and rode on motorbikes.
The attackers were said to have opened fire on Moriki’s car and other vehicles.
About the Author
