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The Emir of Bungudu in Zamfara State, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, said Bandits who attacked his domain on Wednesday kidnapped 30 persons.
The Emir in an interview with The PUNCH news reports that on Saturday when the bandits attack, the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) refused distress call from him resulting to the killing of 15 persons, but NAF said the report by the monarch was false, and mischievous.
But then the monarch during the interview commended the media for bringing to light the insecurity situation in the state for national focus.
He stated, “It reached a situation that my people were afraid for my life, asking me not to visit certain places, for me not to be kidnapped.
“Apart from the 15 people killed when the bandits invaded Makwa village, 30 others were kidnapped and whisked away to unknown destinations by the bandits. “The kidnapped victims upon payment of ransom, which the state government frowned upon, are usually freed.”
On a claim that security agents of the Operation Sharan Daji and Habun Kunama III, went after the bandits and rescued some of the kidnapped victims in Bungudu, the emir stated that the troops should not claim credit for what they did not do.
He stated, “Those they claimed they rescued are escapees from the kidnappers. The troops saw the escapees returning home. They never engaged the bandits during the attack to rescue the kidnapped victims.
“There are places that the bandits have established camps in the last four years and they are still there, they have not moved an inch. “The security agencies have this information. The information given to them years ago is still very valid but they don’t make use of it.
“If their problem is dearth of personnel, let them admit and collectively, we can sit down to address it. Unfortunately, there is a lack of synergy between the security agencies and the people who are more familiar with the terrain.”
The traditional ruler disclosed that despite a series of attacks on his domain, the bandits had no camp in Bungudu Local Government Area, where his domain is located.
He stated, “The truth is that the bandits don’t have a camp in Bungudu. Their camps are located in Maru Local Government Area, about one kilometre from our border.”
Attahiru also raised the alarm that if normalcy was not restored especially in areas facing insecurity, Zamfara, an agrarian state, might experience food shortage.
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