No fewer than 100 people have been abducted in Mutumji, Sabongari Mahuta, Kwanar Dutsi and Unguwar Kawo communities of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
NIGERIACRIME gathered that the gunmen kidnapped those people for failing to pay levies imposed on them.
The bandits have reportedly been troubling the communities due to their inability to pay the levies forced on them.
According to a villager from Mutumji, identified as Alhaji Muhammad Usman, the bandits stormed the community at about 8 pm and started shooting sporadically, forcing residents to run for safety.
The villager further revealed that the bandits’ kingpin in the area, Damina, had earlier imposed N110 million on the communities as harvesting levies, giving them two weeks ultimatum to comply or face the consequences.
“N50m levy was imposed on our community, while N30m was imposed on Kwanar Dutsi; N20m on Sabongari Mahuta, and N10m on Unguwar Kawo”, he added.
Another source from the area said that the communities had started contributing the money when the terrorists stormed the community on Friday evening.
The spokesman of the State’s Police command could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.
The incident came a week after some villagers were abducted in Ruwandoruwa community of the same Local Government Area.
It could also be recalled that early this year, the bandits killed a Divisional Police Officer and some police officers in Maru town of the same Local Government Area of the State.
In another news, at least eight persons reportedly died in an auto accident at Oke Onigbin, along the Omu Aran-Ilorin highway in Irepodun Local Government of Kwara State, on Friday.
A statement by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) sector Public Relations Officer, Busari Basambo, on Saturday in Ilorin, the state capital, disclosed: “A fatal road traffic crash occurred on Friday evening at Oke Onigbin, along Omu Aran-Ilorin Road, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, around 7:40 pm. The accident involved a Mack trailer and a Mitsubishi bus.”
Personnel of the FRSC standby rescue team at the Omu Aran Unit Command were immediately mobilised to the scene.
“Preliminary investigations by our men revealed that the Mitsubishi space wagon travelling to Ilorin while overtaking a bus collided with an oncoming Mack trailer.
“It resulted in the deaths of eight persons on the spot—one male adult, three female adults, and four children—while six others sustained various degrees of injuries,” PRO said.
He said the corpses were deposited at a mortuary in Omu Aran.
He noted that further investigation revealed that the crash was caused by speed, wrongful overtaking, and poor visibility.