Armed bandits abducted nearly 100 people, including women and children, in Maru Local Government Area if Zamfara State on Friday.
According to reports, the bandits raided four villages in the Maru Local Government Area: Mutumji, Sabongari Mahuta, Kwanar Dutsi, and Unguwar Kawo, for failing to pay levies imposed on the people.
According to Mutumji residents, the bandits attacked the community around 8 p.m. after prayers and began firing intermittently, prompting inhabitants to flee for safety.
Residents claimed that Damina, a bandit chieftain operating in the area, imposed a N110 million naira “harvesting levy” on these communities, giving them two weeks to comply and pay.
Mutumji was charged N50 million, Kwanar Dutsi N30 million, Sabongari Mahuta N20 million, and Unguwar Kawo N10 million, according to reports.
Another local source stated that the communities began collecting money after the attackers stormed the town on Friday evening.
Several attempts to obtain responses from the state government and police officials in the state were unsuccessful.
The latest abduction occurred only a week after 15 people were kidnapped in the same local government’s Ruwandoruwa neighborhood.
(Credit: Channels Tv)