For more than a decade, civilians in Nigeria have faced multiple security threats and risk of atrocities as result of attacks, kidnappings and extortion by various non-state armed groups
Opeyemi Olamilekan
ZAMFARA, Nigeria – Terrorists – locally dubbed as bandits in Nigeria blocked Gusau- Funtua road and abducted all passengers in 3 vehicles at Margazu village in Tsafe Local Government Area of the North-western Zamfara State.
According to local news, Vanguard, the terrorists also blocked the road near Unguwan Chida and other neighbouring communities and abducted passengers in 5 vehicles.
Locals said the bandits who were also killed, have been disrupting traffic on that route since the rains heightened in the area.
A local told the news outlet on Tuesday that bandits were coming out daily to attack commuters on that road and whisked them away to the forest.
ASP Yazid Abubakar, spokesman of the Zamfara Police Command, confirmed the incident and assured that soldiers have been deployed to the area to chase out the bandits.
– Insecurity and violence in Nigeria –
For more than a decade, civilians in Nigeria have faced multiple security threats and risk of atrocities as result of attacks, kidnappings and extortion by various non-state armed groups.
Since the start of 2024 civilians have faced intensified violence across Nigeria, and near-daily attacks by armed groups resulting in kidnappings and other abuses against civilians.
Armed groups and gangs, including so-called “bandits,” have – for many years – perpetrated widespread atrocities, including murder, rape, kidnapping, organized cattle-rustling and plunder. Armed herdsmen are also destroying vast swaths of farmland, prompting many farmers to abandon their land out of fear of attack.