Days After Killing Emir: Bandits Abduct Over 150 In Gobir

The incident happened few days after the death in kidnappers’ den, of the Emir of Gobir, Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, who was also the District Head of Gatawa.

The monarch was, on July 29, kidnapped alongside his son and six others on the Sokoto-Sabon Birni Road.

In a viral video, the deceased, whose hands and legs were tied, was seen appealing to the Sokoto State government, the Sultanate Council, his relatives and friends to help pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.

The district head had said that the bandits set a deadline for the payment of the ransom, failure of which they would kill him.

Hundreds of youths in the area ultimately staged protests after the killing of the district head, forcing the state government to impose a curfew on Sabon Birni.

Confirming the latest abductions, Professor Bello Bada of the Department of English, Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, said it was unfortunate that bandits had returned to their dastardly operations in the area just a few days after the death of the district head.

He said: “The most painful thing about it is that some important people in the area could access the telephone numbers of the bandits and could even have conversations with them. Why? It means the bandits are known.

“People in the area go for negotiation with bandits; it means they know where they are. Why do bandits go to markets freely and sell their cows in the area ?

“Why is it that in the area about 1,000 cows were carted away by bandits? Do the cows have wings to fly? What about our intelligence? How did the bandits pass through villages and towns without being noticed?

“They are taking the rustled cattle into the bush while at the same time, residents of some communities within the district are inside the same bush mining for gold. No, something is wrong. We should tell ourselves the truth. We have to sit down and address this problem for the future of our children”, the professor said.

A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly representing Sabon Birni (North), Aminu Boza, said a total of 151 people were abducted between Tsamaye and Sabon Birni.

“A day after the death of Sarkin Gobir, the bandits attacked Tsamaye village again, killing some people and abducting unspecified others.

They also attacked Yanfaruna village and abducted 22 people and they went to the next village and abducted 11 people.

“So, a total of 192 people have been abducted and they are still in captivity.

“Besides the abduction of people, we have lost over 20,000 hectares of land to the bandits. They stopped our people from cultivating the land for several years now. Over 92 per cent of our wealth has been wasted by these bandits,” he said.

Boza alleged that there were no security personnel in most of the banditry-prone areas in Sabon Birni, which include Kwanar Maharba, Turtsawa, Unguwar Lalle, Tagirke and Kwanar Tambazawa.

He said: “Kwanar Maharba is the most dangerous spot among all the spots I have mentioned. Banditry operation is taking place in this particular spot almost daily. Some of our people had to change their route through Niger Republic whenever they are going to Sokoto because it is safer. We don’t have a single security checkpoint along that road.

“The locations of most of the bandits’ leaders are known. Bello Turji, for instance, is residing in Fakai and from Fakai to Shinkafi is a distance of less than three kilometers. Halilu is residing in Tsububu village and Jummo Baki in Gangara village.

“Three days ago, I met the Sokoto State deputy governor and together we are making efforts for the deployment of an additional 1,200 soldiers to Sokoto State and Sabon Birni will get additional security personnel in the next one week”, the lawmaker said.

He said the deployment of military personnel to the areas would reduce banditry significantly.

The lawmaker appealed to the federal government to listen to the plight of the residents of Sabon Birni.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Command, SP Ahmad Rufa’i, said police had not received a report on such abductions, but promised to find out from Sabon Birni Divisional Office.