Terrorists Abduct 105 Farmers In Zamfara, Ask Governor To Negotiate With Them
The farming communities invaded were forced to pay millions as protection levies earlier this year to avoid terrorist attacks.
Terrorists operating in Zamfara, North West Nigeria, have invaded three satellite communities in the state, abducting 105 farmers, including women and children.
The invasion and mass abduction happened around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10, 2024. The three farming communities attacked are Gora, Madomawa, and Jambuzu in the Birnin-Magaji Local Government Area of the state.
Magajin Garin, the district head of Gora, told HumAngle that, specifically, 38 men and 67 women, including their children, were victims of the targeted abductions across the three farming communities.
“I narrowly escaped from hundreds of the terrorists who stormed our Gora village and moved to Madomawa and Jambuzu villages in the night raid,” the district head recalled.
He stressed that the number of people abducted could have been more, but some seven persons escaped while the terrorists were moving the abductees to their camp. HumAngle has seen a list of the abducted farmers, manually compiled by the villagers.
“The armed group had wanted to kill me, because of my refusal to force my people into the negotiations with them [terrorists],” he said.
Bala Bakanike, a villager from Gora, added that in about nine houses, the terrorists abducted entire families, leaving their homes empty.
During the night invasion, the terrorists asked villagers to force their monarch to meet the state governor, Dauda Lawal, for negotiation with them.
“He must stop sending the Askarawa (community guards) and the military operatives from killing us,” the terrorists were quoted to have warned.
The recent mass abduction in these communities breaches the peace pact between the terrorists and the villagers. In February this year, the communities made several ransom payments and protection levies to the terrorists to avoid being subjects of attacks.
Yezid Abubakar, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Zamfara could not be reached by phone when HumAngle tried to contact him for comments.
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