TheNewsGuru

Tag: Zamfara

  • Bandits kill four, abduct several others in fresh attacks on Zamfara

    Bandits kill four, abduct several others in fresh attacks on Zamfara

    Armed bandits have invaded Ruwan Doruwa district in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, killing four persons and abducting several others.

    A source at Ruwan Doruwa community said the bandits came to the town in the early hours of Friday and started shooting sporadically, forcing many residents to flee for their safety.

    He said the bandits killed four persons and embarked on house-to-house search for abduction.

    According to reports, the funeral prayers of those killed been been conducted.

    Meanwhile, neither the police authorities nor the Zamfara State Government have confirmed the latest attack.

    The attack on Ruwan Doruwa is one of the latest acts of violence by armed bandits operating in the North-West.

    The North-West and Central states have for years been troubled by tit-for-tat attacks and community raids between nomadic herders and local farmers who clash over water and land.

    But violence has escalated sharply with the emergence of large criminal gangs who steal cattle, raid and loot villages and kidnap for ransom.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, a former soldier first elected in 2015, is under pressure over insecurity.

    The armed forces have launched military raids and air strikes on bandit camps, but gunmen have kept up attacks and abductions.

    Four states across the northwest, including Zamfara, have introduced restrictions including limiting motorbike traffic, restricting fuel sales and also suspending cattle markets and transport.

    Armed gangs often arrive on motorbikes during their abduction attacks and also engage in castle rustling.

    They operate out of camps hidden in forests in northwest Nigeria, often raiding and abducting in one state and crossing back with their victims into another state.

    This year bandits have turned their sights on schools, seminaries and colleges across the region, herding children and students deep into forest hideouts while they negotiate ransom payments.

    Many students have been released only after spending weeks or months in captivity but dozens are still being held.

  • JUST IN: Bandits release five of 73 students kidnapped in Zamfara

    JUST IN: Bandits release five of 73 students kidnapped in Zamfara

    Bandits have released five among the 73 kidnpped students of Government Day Secondary School Kaya in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

    Police confirmed that the students were kidnapped on Wednesday.

    A former councilor of Kaya ward, Yahaya Kaya, confirmed the release of the five students to journalists on Thursday.

    Kaya said his daughter, Amina, was among the students released by the bandits.

    Acccording to him, the five students were taken back to their hometown Kaya, around 01am on Thursday.

    He maintained that they were all in good health

  • Police confirm 73 students kidnapped from Zamfara school

    Police confirm 73 students kidnapped from Zamfara school

    The Zamfara State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of 73 students from the Kaya Day Secondary School in Maradun Local Government Area of the state

    The command disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Muhammed Shehu, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday night.

    Shehu said the incident occurred at about 11:22 am on Wednesday as armed men in their large numbers invaded the school.

    The police revealed that the command has “deployed search and rescue team that was mandated to work in synergy with the military to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted students”.

    The State Commissioner of Police, Ayuba Elkana, appealed to the public “especially parents and relatives of the abducted students to exercise patience and continue to pray for the success of the Ongoing rescue operation”.

    Shehu noted that security has also been beefed up at Kaya Village and its environs to forestall further attacks on the communities.

  • Matawalle orders indefinite closure of Zamfara schools after fresh abduction

    Matawalle orders indefinite closure of Zamfara schools after fresh abduction

    Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, on Wednesday ordered the immediate closure of primary and secondary schools in the state following the abduction of a yet-to-be ascertained the number of students in the state.

    The Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, Ayuba Elkana, conveyed the governor’s directive while addressing journalists on the new security measures in the state.

    “I wish to inform the general public that His Excellency the executive governor of Zamfara State has ordered the closure of all schools within the state, both primary and secondary schools that are existing here are now closed with immediate effect,” the Commissioner said.

    The Zamfara State Government’s decision is indefinite, the commissioner added during the briefing in Gusau.

    “It’s a threat, you know the bandits will like to go back to kidnap these students, so for their safety the schools have to be closed until peace is restored in the state.”

    When asked how many students were abducted, the commissioner of police said, “I don’t know.”

    The government also restricted movement – from 6pm to 6am- in 13 local government areas. But for Gusau, the capital, movement restriction will be from 8pm to 6am.

    Gunmen had stormed the Kaya Day Secondary School in Maradun Local Government Area of the state and whisked away several students.

    The latest kidnap is happening five days after the students of the College Of Agriculture and Animal Science Bakura earlier abducted in the state regained their freedom

    Zamfara, just like other states in the northwest and north-central have been facing serious security challenges by bandits – believed to hole up in Rugu forest, which straddles Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger states – to increasingly attacking schools, seizing students to extort ransom from parents.

    Kidnappings are just one of the challenges facing Nigeria’s security forces, who are battling a grinding Islamist insurgency in the northeast and separatist tensions in parts of the south.

    According to the UN, some 950 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria since December.

    While most of the hostages have been released after negotiations, some are still being held.

  • BREAKING: Bandits attack another Zamfara school, abduct students

    BREAKING: Bandits attack another Zamfara school, abduct students

    Bandits have abducted a yet-to-be ascertained number of students following an attack on Kaya Day Secondary School in Zamfara State.

    According to a report by Channels Television, the incident occurred at about 11 am on Wednesday in Maradun Local Government Area of the state.

    A source within the government, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the attack on the school and the students’ abduction.

    But police authorities in Zamfara have yet to confirm the incident.

    Sources explained that the assailants invaded the school in a large number and left with the students to an undisclosed location.

    Details soon…

  • Police rescue eight kidnapped victims in Zamfara

    Police rescue eight kidnapped victims in Zamfara

    The Zamfara State Police Command has reportedly rescued no fewer than eight kidnap victims in the Bungudu Local Government Area of the state.

    The victims were reportedly abducted on August 25 from Kangon Sabuwa in Bungudu LGA and taken to “Kungurmi bandits Camp” where they were rescued by the police “without any financial or material gain”.

    In a statement by the state’s police spokesperson, Muhammed Shehu on Monday, the abducted victims were medically checked by medical officials, debriefed by the police and have been reunited with their families.

    The Commissioner of Police, Ayuba Elkana, however, disclosed that the command was intensifying search and rescue strategies that will lead to the unconditional rescue of other victims in captivity.

    “The CP called on members of the public to improve their cooperation and collaboration with the Police and other security agencies to restore lasting peace and security in the state,” the statement read.

  • PHOTO: Police rescue 18 abducted college students, staff in Zamfara

    PHOTO: Police rescue 18 abducted college students, staff in Zamfara

    The Zamfara State Police Command has disclosed that it rescued 18 students and members of staff of the College of Agricultural and Animal Sciences in the Bakura area of the state.

    The command disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Muhammed Shehu, on Friday.

    The command said it secured their release “unconditionally”, and that the students had been received by the state government through the Commissioner of Police, Ayuba Elkana.

    The CP while handing over the victims to the state government said the students were undergoing medical treatment and would reunite with their families afterwards.

    On August 16, bandits had invaded the college and abducted students and members of staff of the college.

    This newspaper reported that the abductees were released yesterday by their captors after 10 days in captivity

  • Bandits kill one, kidnap seven in Zamfara over refusal to pay levies

    Bandits kill one, kidnap seven in Zamfara over refusal to pay levies

    Armed bandits have killed one person and abducted seven others in Dadah, Tukurawa and Gandamasu in Zurmi local government area of Zamfara State.

    According to reports, the bandits attacked the villages on Thursday night over the villagers’ failure to pay levies imposed by the hoodlums.

    Zurmi is one of the local government areas in the state worst-hit by banditry. It shares boundaries with Jibia local government of Katsina.

    Some of its communities touch the dreaded Rugu forest where bandits have established fortresses.

    In Thursday’s night attack, a youth leader in the area, Abdullahi Yusuf, said one person was killed while seven people were abducted in Dadah village.

    “Four of those abducted were women. What we have found out is that some of the villages did not pay levies imposed by the bandits, which led to the attacks,” he added.

    He said the people of Gidan Zago had paid N800,000 imposed on them while those of Tsakauna agreed to work on the bandits’ farmlands.

    Mr Yusuf said the bandits have now imposed N9 million on Takurawa, N2 million on Dadah and N2.5 million on Gidan Shaho.

    He added that from what their organisation found out, the villagers have agreed to pay the money.

    People of Kurunkudu village in Bakura local government area have also been reportedly paid the bandits N200,000 as levy.

  • District head, 75 others kidnapped as bandits attack Zamfara communities

    District head, 75 others kidnapped as bandits attack Zamfara communities

    Unidentified gunmen kidnapped at least 75 people from a village in northwest Nigeria, residents said on Saturday, the latest in a slew of abductions that have plagued the country.

    The spate of kidnappings has thwarted all security forces’ efforts to stem the crimes, often carried out for ransom, and posed a challenge to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “The number of people kidnapped from (the village of) Rini must be more than seventy five,” said Aliyu Tungar-Rini, a resident of the community in northwest, Zamfara in Nigeria.

    Similarly, bandits invaded another community, Adabka situated in Bukkuyum Local government area on Saturday about 12 pm and operated till around 4 pm before whisking away the district head of the community, Alhaji Nafiu Shehu.

    In Rini Village, Habu Abubakar, who is a resident, said more than 75 people were kidnapped by the gunmen, who he said came wearing black clothes on more than 50 motorbikes.

    My shop was looted and I was left with a few things,” he said.

    A police spokesman confirmed the abduction but declined to provide details.

    They abducted my uncle, I narrowly escaped death,” said Mohammed Dan Auwal, another resident.

    He described the attack starting Friday afternoon and lasting until the early hours of Saturday, as the kidnappers went from house to house snatching children and the elderly.

    On the other side, it was gathered that nobody was killed during the attack in Adabka.

    A source said that the mobile police unit that was stationed in the community was moved out of the community last week which gave the bandits opportunity to enter the area.

    Adabka is about 165 kilometers from the state capital, Gusau.

    The police in Zamfara are yet to confirm the latest incidents.

  • How bandits killed 11, abducted 40 in Zamfara

    How bandits killed 11, abducted 40 in Zamfara

    Gunmen suspected to be bandits have attacked Randa village in Dansadau Emirate of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, killing 11 and abducting over 40 people.

    The abducted are mostly women, nursing mothers, and children.

    Eyewitness said the bandits stormed the village in their large numbers on Tuesday night at about 11:00 pm and started shooting sporadically forcing residents to scamper for safety.

    Seven of the people killed were said to have been set ablaze when the house they were hiding in was set on fire, while the four others were shot dead.

    According to the eyewitness, the local vigilante known as “Yansakai” confronted the bandits and got into a fire exchange but were overpowered by them.

    Police authorities in the state are, however, yet to confirm the incident as the Public Relations Officer SP Mohammed Shehu said an investigation will be carried out.

    The latest attack comes few days after bandits kidnapped a total of 20 people comprising 15 students, four staff, and a driver at the College of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Bakura in Zamfara.

    During the attack on Sunday, two watchmen and a police officer were killed.