Police Arrest Suspected Banditry Gang Leader in Zamfara

The police in Zamfara State have arrested a suspected banditry gang leader, Junaidu Shehu, who with his group members had allegedly been terrorizing parts of the state.

SP Mohammed Shehu, the spokesman for the Police Command in Zamfara, said Junaidu hailed from Fasa Gora village in the Bukkuyum Local Government Area of the

In a statement on Friday said the suspect and his gang had for long been terrorising the people of the state, particularly residents of his own community.

“The suspect had on several occasions conspired with members of his gang to perpetrate most of the attacks and kidnappings against the people of his own community,” Shehu said.

There are several pieces of evidence that expose his active involvement in killings and kidnappings against the residents of his village, he said.

“Sometime in 2019, the suspect, in concert with other bandits at large, invaded Fasa Gora village and kidnapped the daughter of the district head of the village and collected one million naira before the girl regained her freedom.

“Similarly, in the same year, 2019, the suspect and his co-conspirators brutally ambushed and killed four vigilante members, who were defending the village against all forms of attacks by the bandits.

“Similarly, the suspect and his cohorts attacked the same village and killed substantial number of people,” Shehu said.

He said that the suspect was currently in custody and assisting the police to arrest other members of his gang.

Zamfara has been a theatre of banditry in recent times with large numbers of people killed or displaced through the activities of the criminals.

As a way of checking the trend, the state government has gone into negotiations with the criminals.