Suspected bandits have killed at least 21 people and displaced several families in a repeated attack at the Gwana district of Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
A resident of the Mansur community – one of the affected towns- Isah Suleiman, told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday that hundreds of families had fled their homes after the bandits killed many people and rustled livestock.
Mr Suleiman said the attacks had been occurring almost daily, a development never witnessed before in the community.
He said an attack last week claimed the lives of a police officer and a vigilante responding to distress calls from villagers.
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“As I speak with you, I am in my house (the palace) among the displaced persons taking refuge.18 people reported how their loved ones were killed in the recurring attacks
“The authorities need to do more in addressing the escalating violence by raiding the bandits’ hideouts in the rocky terrain”, Mr Suleiman said.
The traditional leader said the bandits forced residents to abandon their homes after centuries of living in the area.
“We don’t have anyplace to go because even our great-grandparents were born in this area, and the bandits are bragging that no amount of force can stop them when they plan an attack in Bauchi or neighbouring Gombe State,” Mr Suleiman added
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the bandits killed several members of a vigilante group protecting the community.
The resident said the attackers ambushed vigilantes patrolling Mansur, Digare, and Yalo farming communities near an oil field in Alkaleri L.G.A.
Residents said the attacks are causing panic in the farming communities where the people were preparing for the planting season.
The lawmaker representing the area in the House of Representatives, Kabir Yusuf, said 19 villagers, including nine members of a vigilante group, were massacred on 3 May by armed persons at Sabon Sara village.
Mr Yusuf, while moving a motion for urgent intervention in the farming communities in Bauchi, said the attackers also destroyed properties worth millions of Naira and rustled about 200 cows.
The lawmaker said the criminals are believed to be hiding in Madam Forest and called for the urgent attention of security agencies to dislodge them.
READ ALSO: Bandits kill 11 vigilante members in Bauchi oil community
The police had earlier, in a statement, said they had deployed personnel to check the marauding terrorists in the Gwana District. The police spokesperson in the state, Ahmed Wakil, said the police were patrolling Duguri, Mansur, and the Dajin Madam forest bordering Bauchi and Plateau states.
Alkaleri LGA shares a boundary with Gombe, Taraba, and Plateau states. The boundary areas are rugged terrains with rocky hills that the criminals use as hideouts to carry out attacks.
In 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the first crude oil drilling project in northern Nigeria in Alkaleri.
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