…Rustle over 1, 260 livestock
From Umar Danladi Ado, Sokoto
In Sokoto, the cross borders fleeing bandits attacked and killed eight farmers while working on their farms at the borders Community of Gudu local government area of Sokoto State last Friday.
The Bandits allegedly to have entered Nigeria from the Republic of Mali also rustled over 1,260,000 domestic animals including 260 cows, 1000 sheep and goats belonging to the Gudu communities.
The Sole Administrator of the Local Government Area, Alhaji Umar Maikano Balle stated this and monitored in the Newsmagazine Hausa Programme “Tubalin Tsaro”, aired by VOA Hausa Service.
MaiKano Balle said the suspected fleeing bandits passed through a town called Mantsaika, where they attempted to vandalize the oil pipeline from the Republic of Niger, but were resisted by the Nigerien security personnel, which made them return to Gudu and subsequently the attack villages.
He confirmed that the bandits attacked and shot dead 4 innocent farmers,2 persons sustained serious injuries later one victim died in the hospital.
“We received the information on their arrival at a forest in the Gudu area on Thursday and immediately informed the security personnel so that to be on the alerts and work on the intelligence information,” he added.
According to him, the bandits also attacked Karfen Sarki village on Wednesday night and killed eight farmers, five of the victims are members of the Sokoto Community Guards while three persons are villagers from the Gudu community.
He noted that security personnel pursued them to receive information about the attacked village called China, but it was difficult due to the heavy rainfall in the area at that time, which made the bandits escape.
He explained that this happened as a result of the security vehicles which were also stuck in the mud.
The bandits attacking people in the Gudu Local Government Area are from Mali and this is not the first time, as similar attacks have occurred in the past.
While recalls vividly that the bandits arrived in the area from 2017 to 2018 and lived peacefully with the people of the Gudu communities for a long time, they even got married and did not harm the people of the area.
The government has deployed more security personnel to the area and has been working to ensure peace and security in the community.
When they first started entering the area, various security measures were taken to prevent future happening including the deployment of a military based in Balle town.
The soldiers deployed are working tirelessly day and night to ensure peace in the area.
He also mentioned that the bandits have been rustling livestock and crossing borders of the Niger Republic’s porous route and causing trouble for some time in the communities.
The Chairman stated that the bandits are not just ordinary bandits, but are also involved in jihadist activities and have been terrorizing the community.
The bandits have been using sophisticated weapons and have been killing people indiscriminately.
Contributing, security analyst, Comrade Basharu Altine Guyawa, dispelled claims by some people on the influx of people from Mali into Nigeria and described the statement as not surprising.
However, the government needs to take decisive action against the bandit’s enclave in the Boni forest, which is between the Gudu and Tangaza local government areas.
Guyawa insisted that the notorious bandit kingpin in the forest popularly called Charambe, who is terrorizing the community and has been arming himself with modern weapons is a serious threat.
He stressed the need for the government at all levels to take action to address the activities of banditries in the area to protect lives, and properties and restore peace to entire community members of the area.
