2-IN-1 STORY: Troops To Battle Nigeria's Cattle Rustlers; When Bandits Turned Zamfara Into A Killing Field

It is the first heavy military deployment to the area AFP/Getty

Reports say security forces with heavy equipment have been deployed into the north-western Nigerian state of Zamfara.

BBC Africa Live report continues:

It follows weeks of abductions and killings by suspected armed cattle rustlers.

This heavy military deployment is the first since the Nigerian army promised to send about 1,000 troops to the area three months ago. 

Residents told the BBC they saw military tanks and armoured vehicles moving into forests where suspected armed bandits are thought to be hiding. 

The armed gangs are based in the forests, from where they raid nearby villages. 

Last July, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari sent a special military taskforce to combat cattle rustlers in Zamfara state. 

Hundreds of people have been killed in villages in and around Zamfara in the last three years. 

Residents of the affected areas have accused the local authorities of failing to defend them.

When Bandits Turned Zamfara Into A Killing Field

Last week, Nigerians were shocked by the news of the horrific attacks by suspected armed bandits which claimed the lives of over 150 in about eight villages across four local government areas of Zamfara State. Daily Trust on Sunday traced some of the survivors who reconstructed a gory picture of the bloodletting.

*‘They Chased Us on Bikes and Gunned Down Many’ *How Corpses Littered Communities *Govt Insensitive to Our Plight *Zamfara Sets Up Assessment Committee

Suspected armed bandits carried out a series of horrific assaults on about eight villages in four local government areas of Zamfara State.

Daily Trust report continues:

More than 150 lives were lost while many residential houses were burnt and hundreds of residents displaced in the wake of the attacks. Daily Trust on Sunday spoke with some of the victims currently taking refuge in Shinkafi town.

The sight at the General Hospital, Shinkafi, the headquarters of Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, was a pathetic one. The victims of last week’s brutal attacks in parts of the state lied on mats spread in the shade of trees, groaning in excruciating pains from the gunshot wounds that dotted their bodies. Their faces wore gloomy and frustrating looks. With plastered and bandaged knees, hands and legs, they curiously stared at every approaching visitor.

Some groups of women, with their children, sat on the ground under the trees, hiding from the blistering sun, apparently not disturbed by the gust of the dusty harmattan wind that was slapping everything on its path.

Rather, all of them were relishing an air of good luck as survivors of a carnage that claimed over 100 lives.

The communities attacked were Tubali, Sabon Gida, Zazzaka, Dolen Moriki, Kaya, Tsibiri and Yan Kamoji villages in Maradun, Maru, Shinkafi and Zurmi local government areas.

Recently, the state witnessed a sharp rise in attacks by suspected cattle rustlers, with the latest killings taking place about two weeks after about 40 gold miners were gunned down at Bindin village in Maru Local Government Area.

The attackers have also been linked to the abduction last week of over 40 traders, including women and children in Mai Kansa village, also in Maru Local Government Area.

‘Riding and shooting’

A middle-aged man, Sulaiman Yusuf, was recuperating from a leg injury he sustained in the attack. His face wore a sad look. He gasped for a moment and began to recount his ordeal.

“We heard sounds of gunfire, then we were told that a neighbouring village of Alfadara, also known as Sabon Gida, was under a brutal attack by suspected armed bandits. That was about 7am on that fateful day.

“Sabon Gida village is just a stone-throw from Tubali village, the community we hail from. So we mobilized and rushed to our neighbours to offer them help. The armed bandits noticed our movements. They climbed a giant rock by a river to see the direction we were coming from. We suspect an insider had informed them of our coming.

“So they lurked on the hilltop until we came closer and were about to enter Sabon Gida village, when suddenly they started to fire in our direction. We ran in different directions for our dear lives,” Yusuf recalled.

As the locals retreated, the attackers gave them a hot chase, mowing down whoever they could get with bullets.

“They rode their motorbikes and chased us, shooting everyone in sight. On each bike, they had one rider and one shooter. We ran as fast as we could and reached the bank of River Dammaka. As the gunmen were inching towards us, shooting dead every living soul, we plunged into the river,” he further recounted.

Yusuf said although he miraculously survived the attack, many of his kinsmen did not.

“When the hoodlums got to the bank of the river, they began to fire shots into the water. A bullet slightly bruised my leg. I managed to get to the shore and dashed into the forest,” he explained.

Other residents corroborated Yusuf’s account, saying the armed bandits attacked Tubali after the village rose in defence of its neighbours and provoked the attackers. They said the community ended up recording the highest casualty in the attacks that day. More than 50 people were killed in the village alone.

Another victim, Muhammadu Ibrahim, who was also shot in the leg, said he was coming back from farm when somebody informed him of the attack in his village.

“When I was informed about the ugly development, I started running. Unknown to me, they had already blocked all the escape routes. So, when they saw me running, they fired several shots at me. I fell down and pretended to be dead. They came and passed me. I later stood up and escaped into the forest,” he said.

A 15-year-old Nafisa Haladu, who was recovering from a gunshot wound in her hand, said she was hit by a stray bullet.

“I was scampering for safety when a bullet hit my hand. The armed bandits told us that they were not there to kill women and children, but our male parents and brothers, and that we shouldn’t bother running away.

“I was running fast; three of my younger brothers were also running behind me, screaming for help. I stumbled and fell down, got up quickly and continued running,” Nafisa explained amidst tears.

Another victim, Isah Surajo, said about a dozen of the armed bandits, who were clad in military uniforms, gave him a hot chase on their motorbikes.

“I climbed a tree, and some minutes after, the convoy of their motorcycles came to the place and they desperately looked for me. I had to spend night on the treetop,” he said.

Zamfara residents said the activities of the marauding bandits were crippling the local economy, which is largely bolstered by farming, as people could hardly tend their farms.

A farmer, Alhaji Sani Ibrahim, said his sorghum plantation may not be harvested, owing to the fact that no one would dare work on the farm and come back home unhurt.

“For quite a long time, the armed bandits used to kidnap farmers for ransom. Dozens of farmers have been kidnapped and millions of naira paid in ransom for their freedom,” he said.

Another farmer, Amadu Isah, said the bandits had set fire to his silos after shooting dead his 70-year-old father who couldn’t run. “I couldn’t even see the remains of my father.”

Decomposing bodies

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that decomposing bodies of victims of last week’s attacks littered their villages. Sani Adamu, a resident of Tubali, said he and other residents had managed to go back to their village some days after the attack and found about 15 decomposing bodies of some of the victims.

“We mobilized and went in search of more bodies yesterday, and what we saw was shocking. Some residents were shot dead while working on their farms. Nobody knew that they were killed. Their remains were found on their farms decomposing,” he said.

‘Zamfara government insensitive to our plight’

The village head of Sabon Gida, Mallam Salihu Magaji, who was visibly shaken and still battling to come to terms with what would have led the bandits to massacre his people, blamed the government for neglecting them.

“The Zamfara State government is insensitive to our plight. They outlawed the local vigilantes, popularly known as Yan’ Sakai, in our villages. These vigilantes were the ones guaranteeing our safety in the villages since government has woefully failed in this direction.

“The villagers are being treated with disdain. We are being killed like ants every blessed day. We are being kidnapped, our women are gang raped and our residential houses and silos are being burnt to ashes, but no one cares. Is there anything more painful and humiliating than this?”

The village head further told Daily Trust on Sunday that there was a time he mobilized his subjects and raised ₦500,000, which he gave to the armed bandits so that they would keep off the village.

“They ordered us to raise ₦500,000 within three days or we would be made to face dire consequences. We had to give them the money to guarantee the safety of our lives and property. Armed bandits have instituted themselves as lords within our communities. We cried and nobody listened. We have left everything in the hand of the Almighty Allah for judgement,” he cried.

When told about the allegations of extra-judicial arrests and executions leveled against the vigilantes as the trigger for “counter-attacks” by the bandits, Magaji responded: “Why should they not kill suspected criminals? Whenever a criminal is caught and handed over to the authorities, he would be released, only for him to hunt for you that initially arrested him to kill. The authorities are not sincere,” he alleged.

Some internally displaced persons taking refuge in Shinkafi town told our reporter that they begged for what to eat and had no place to live.

“As I am talking to you, I have not taken anything since morning. I slept and woke up with an empty stomach. I have no money to buy food for my children,” said a survivor, Lawali Shuaibu.

Zamfara government sets up committee

Meanwhile, the Zamfara State government has set up a 35-man committee to assess the extent of damage and establish camps for displaced persons where necessary.

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, the special adviser on public enlightenment to Governor AbdulAziz Yari, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, said the committee, under the chairmanship of the speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji, would go round the affected local government areas and communities to rehabilitate the victims of the attacks. According to him, members of the committee include commissioners, legislators, traditional rulers, retired security officers and members of civil society organizations.

He said a camp for displaced persons would be established in Moriki town.

Dosara berated those criticizing the swap deal that facilitated the release of abducted residents.

“Why should people criticize the swap deal. Are the cattle given to them more valuable than the abducted residents? Do we waste the lives of over 40 persons because of cattle? He asked.