Nigeria: Bandits Kill 42 Farmers in Zamfara Governor Matawalle’s Local Government

Bandits killed 42 farmers on Thursday evening in five communities in Faru, Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Governor Mohammed Bello Matawalle hails from the Local government.

The affected communities are Tsauni, Gudan-Baushi, Gidan-Adamu, Wari and Gudan-Maidawa.

An indigene of the area, Malam Buba Faru, said the bandits, who rode over 100 motorcycles, stormed the communities located few kilometres on the eastern part of Faru town.

Buba said the bandits shot indiscriminately at the people and burnt their houses and food stores.

“They were shooting sporadically at people they came across in the five communities. They also attacked farmers who were in their farmlands cultivating their crops. So far, 42 dead bodies have been recovered by the security and volunteer groups in the area.”

Another resident of the village, Ahmed Lawali, also confirmed the deadly invasion to THISDAY yesterday in a telephone interview, and said the bandits, numbering up to 70, stormed the village at about 4.30pm when most of the victims were working on their farmers.

He explained that the marauding bandits who were on reprisal mission to the village, trailed the farmers to their respective farms and started shooting sporadically, “in the process, 39 persons mainly men, were massacred on the spot.”

According to him, the bandits raided the village following the arrest and killing of two of their members along Mafara- Faru road by the group of vigilantes popularly known as Yan’sakai who nabbed them with two AK-47 riffles last Wednesday.

He said: “Yesterday (Thursday) at about 4:30pm bandits armed with sophisticated weapons attacked Faru Village when some of us were still working on our farms. They (bandits) killed 39 people on their farms and injured many others.

“They (bandits) attacked the village because last Wednesday, Yan’sakai arrested and killed two bandits along Mafara- Faru road who were nabbed with two AK-47 riffles. It was a reprisal mission.

”We buried all the dead bodies this morning (Friday) according to Islamic rights after Friday prayer. We are calling on security agencies to come to our rescue so that we can return to our farms because farming is our main occupation here (in Faru).”

However, the Zamfara State Police Public Relations Officer SP. Muhammad Shehu, while confirming the incident, said 35 people lost their lives as a result of the attack by the bandits in the village.

He added that, a joint security task force comprising military, police, NSCDC had been deployed to the area “and normalcy has been restored right now.”

According to him, their corpses were taken to Faru town where they were buried.

Shehu stated that the police could not reach the affected communities on time when they were informed of the bandits’ attack due to the road network.

“The police personnel tried their best to reach the affected communities on receiving the information that the bandits were there but unfortunately they could not reach the places because of the bad roads,” he said.

He stated that the “police are currently working tirelessly” to arrest the bandits.

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

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