Police confirm 11 killed, as bandits again lay siege to Zamfara communities
Zamfara police command has confirmed that 11 people were killed in the Dangulbi community of Maru Local Government Area of the state, Sunday afternoon, after a fresh bandits’ attack.
It was gathered that the bandits said to be loyal to a notorious kingpin Damina, invaded various farms in the community, last Sunday, killing 11, with several others yet to be accounted for.
Confirming the casualty figures of the latest attack, Spokesperson for the Zamfara State Command, Mohammed Shehu, said the police has since deployed a reinforcement team to the area to restore calm and normalcy in the community.
According to Shehu, the police tactical operatives have begun a confidence-building patrol in the affected community.
“The one at our disposal is 11 people (killed) and the command has already sent a reinforcement team to the affected community and the reinforcing team has been able to return normalcy in the area. They are currently on confidence-building patrol and there is relative normalcy in that axis,” he stated.
According to residents, Dangulbi and surrounding communities have been experiencing a series of attacks by bandits in the last few days.
Saifullahi Ibrahim, a resident of Maru council, said the notorious bandit demanded the sum of N2million levy from the community in order to allow them to cultivate their farmland in the rainy season, adding that the people did as requested.
“The wave of attacks on our communities started about three days ago when a bandit kingpin called Damina asked our people to pay N2 million to him to allow them to cultivate their lands,” he narrated.
According to Ibrahim, Kango which is another village just about 2km away from Dangulbi was attacked last Friday and seven persons were reportedly killed.
“He (Damina) attacked Kango village, a 2km settlement away from Dangulbi, and killed seven people. Then yesterday (Sunday), in the afternoon, he proceeded to Dangulbi environs when people were on their farms working. They (the terrorists) rounded them up and 14 people were confirmed killed on their various farms and some (persons) are missing.”
