Bandits have abducted over 150 individuals and stolen more than 1,000 cattle in various villages within the Gobir Emirate of Sokoto State, Northwest Nigeria.
This alarming incident occurred just days after the death of the Emir of Gobir, Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, who was kidnapped along with his son and six others on the Sokoto-Sabon Birni Road on July 29.
In a widely circulated video, the Emir, with his hands and feet bound, was seen pleading for the ransom demanded by his kidnappers to be paid, warning that they had set a deadline, failing which they would kill him.
Following his tragic death, hundreds of youths in the area protested, leading 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.
Aminu Boza, a member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly representing Sabon Birni (North), confirmed that a total of 192 people have been abducted, and over 20,000 hectares of land have been lost to the bandits, who have prevented locals from farming for several years.
Boza also criticised the lack of security presence in many banditry-prone areas and called for an immediate federal response to address the dire situation.
Despite the seriousness of these events, the Sokoto State Police Command has yet to confirm these reports.
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