Residents flee Zamfara communities as bandit attacks intensify

Hundreds of residents of Magazu and Marke communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State have fled their homes over the incessant raids and attacks of gunmen, locally called bandits.

Residents of the areas told PREMIUM TIMES that Magazu, one of the biggest wards in Tsafe, is deserted.

According to the sources, tired of the unrelenting attacks by the gunmen, people began deserting the town on Thursday evening. By Friday morning almost everyone in the town has fled.

Bandit attacks in Tsafe Local Government are more frequent than in other parts of Zamfara, which is plagued by worsening insecurity.

The gunmen, who operate across Nigeria’s north-west region, have killed thousands of people and injured even more. They sack villages, and farmlands, and rustle livestock. They impose levies on communities before they may farm and defaulters are either killed or abducted.

The gunmen also operate a widespread kidnap-for-ransom operation across the entire region. They specifically target travellers, students of educational institutions, and government offices.

Experts say their kidnap-for-ransom operation is perhaps the worst in the country’s history.

As the government fails to protect residents of the areas, many communities have set up vigilante groups to resist the bandits. However, this has worsened the security challenges in the area as it has given rise to an explosion of tit-for-tat killings between the bandits (who are mostly of Fulani extraction) and the vigilante groups set up by the majority of Hausa communities in the area.

We’re under constant attack

Abubakar Magazu, a resident who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES through the phone on Friday afternoon, said residents of the towns unanimously decided to leave.

He said residents unanimously decided to leave after some bandits raided the town on Wednesday and abducted more than 30 people.

“Let me be honest with you, these people will never allow us to rest. They’ve stopped us from going to farms and markets and now, they’ll not even allow us to live in peace.

“On Wednesday, they came to our town immediately after the Iftar (Muslim break of fast) and abducted over 30 residents and looted property. As big as this community is, nobody has more than two goats or any domestic animals in his house because the bandits have stolen them,” he said.

He said the bandits attacked the town again Thursday night but did not abduct anyone.

“We’re always in fear,” he said. “After Wednesday’s attack, we decided to leave the town. Some people started leaving yesterday (Thursday). They attacked again those of us who slept in the town yesterday, but I think they were there to scare us because they took nothing or anyone,” he said.

A youth leader in Tsafe, Samaila Usman, said the residents from Magazu and Marke have been trooping into the local government headquarters as of Friday afternoon.

The police command spokesperson Mohammed Shehu didn’t respond to calls and SMS sent to him on the issue