400 Zamfara Communities Under Control of Bandits- DWI

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

The Democracy Watch Initiative ( DWI ) has expressed concern over the control of more than 400 communities in Zamfara state by bandits and kidnappers.

Following the situation, the DWI called on the federal government of Nigeria to officially declare a state of emergency within the state, aiming to tackle the escalating wave of insecurity.

Addressing the media alongside 28 non-governmental organizations in Kaduna, the group’s spokesperson, Sanusi Mohammed, emphasized that despite past endeavours by the government to contain the security challenges in Zamfara state, the situation has progressively worsened, marked by a surge in insecurity.

He said people are killed, kidnapped and women are raped, adding that Gusau, the state capital is on the verge of being overrun by bandits.

He noted that the frequent audacious acts of violence perpetrated by the bandits and kidnappers, who operate freely at will, have led to horrifying instances of women and children being raped, communities displaced, people kidnapped for ransom, citizens denied access to their farmlands and many others, brutalized, traumatized and killed daily.

“We call for the immediate proclamation of a state of emergency in Zamfara state because the people have shed enough tears and blood in the last two months without an appropriate response from the government,” Sanusi stated.

“Over 400 villages and communities are being controlled by the ravaging bandits in the state with the terrorists forming their government in these areas and deciding what happens and what should be done,” he added

Zamfara state has become a colony of banditry in the country with the rate of merciless killings, kidnappings, and rape becoming very uncontrollable. There are thousands of widows and orphans roaming the streets due to banditry that killed their husbands and fathers, thereby increasing the volume of almajirais.