Villagers pay levies to bandits before harvesting crops in Kaduna

Kaduna villagers are now being forced by bandits terrorising their communities to pay levies before being allowed to harvest crops from their farms in the state.

The affected farmers were from Kidandan and Galadima villages, while those from Angular Fala’u and Kerawa villages were constantly harassed and kidnapped while working on their farms.

A resident of Kidandan village, Malam Jamil Kidandan, said their people, who are mostly farmers, pay from N70,000 to N100,000 before they can harvest their farm produce.

According to him, those who refuse to pay are either kidnapped, killed or have their farm produce seized by the bandits.

“The bandits’ warlord and his boys stay by the side while a farmer goes to negotiate with him before gaining access to the farm,” he said.

He lamented that the same atrocities were committed against farmers at the Galadimawa axis and appealed to the federal government, including security agencies, to intensify their raids in bandit camps around Giwa LGA.

Another villager in the area, who pleaded for anonymity, listed the names of the bandit warlords terrorising residents in the area to include Buhari, his deputy, Gana’i, while the third in command is called Kwalameri.

Similarly, a community leader, Malam Jafar Anaba who was displaced from his village Anguwar Salahu near Kerawa village, warned that there could be a shortage of food crops in the state if care is not taken.

He said many farmers have abandoned their farms due to banditry in the area.

There has been no official response from the state Police Command regarding the issue. The Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan couldn’t be reached by phone. He was yet to reply to the text message sent to him seeking his reaction.

Meanwhile, a group of bandits, on Tuesday night,  invaded Anguwar Algaita village in the Randagi Ward of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area in Kaduna.

They abducted 12 residents, including women and adults, leaving their families in the dark about the condition of the victims.

However, on Wednesday evening, local residents discovered two bodies in a nearby bush, among those who had been kidnapped by the bandits.

Shehu Randagi, a youth leader in the area, confirmed to Daily Trust that the deceased individuals were believed to have been killed for refusing to follow the bandits into the bush. He also mentioned that a third person was found alive but had sustained a bullet wound. The injured person was rushed to Birnin Gwari Hospital for medical treatment.

Both of the bodies discovered were male, and the bandits continued to terrorise the local population. Shehu appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid.

Efforts to contact the state Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, were unsuccessful as his phone line didn’t connect and he did not reply to a text message regarding the incident.