"Zamfara under siege from 10,000 bandits, cattle rustlers" - Governor Yari

Governor Abdulaziz Yari has said there are about 10,000 armed bandits and cattle rustlers operating in eight major camps in Zamfara state.

Yari made the statement on Thursday, April 25, during his speech at a two-day federal and state security administrators’ meeting, Daily Trust reports.

The governor who was represented by the secretary to the state government, Abdullahi Muhammad Shinkafi, said some of the criminals were operating from 32 smaller camps which served as their hideouts.

He said the activities of armed bandits have prevented people of the state from accessing most of the 715 healthcare facilities and 570 primary schools built by his administration.

“Armed banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping have been plaguing our communities for the past 10 years. The armed men now issue notice ahead of attacks unlike before when they would strike strategically,” the governor said.

“About 4000 were killed, 100,000 people had been displaced, 8,000 women widowed and 16,000 children orphaned in the wake of the deadly assaults on the rural communities of the state, the effect of which is still being felt everywhere in the state.”

He said mining in the state was aiding the activities of criminals and thanked the federal government for banning mining in Zamfara.

Meanwhile, the senator representing Zamfara central in the upper legislative chamber, Kabiru Marafa, has raised the alarm over the state of insecurity in the North.

According to Sahara Reporters, the lawmaker, speaking on the floor of the red chamber, stated that the North is at war.

Marafa asserted that no one should be under any illusions about the true situation in the North, insisting that if something is not done, the situation may deteriorate.