(Big Story)
In a media chart in Gusau on Tuesday , Sani Abdullahi Wamban Shinkafi narrated how some gang of armed bandits based near Kaura Namoda forest slaughtered over (35) people in a very inhuman manner.
Among the abductess were three pregnant women who were kidnapped with five month old pregnancy and delivered at the bandits ‘ camps.
Among them was one of the mothers whose newborn baby was heartlessly murdered by one of the bandits for the reason that her new born baby had constituted a nuisance to them at the camp.
The murder of the girl , according to Wambai , resulted in the sudden death of the mother due to frustration.
Wambai said the abductees , who are citizens of Kaura Namoda in Zamfara state , were abducted for the past five months and humiliated beyond human comprehension.
“some of them manhandled , Women among them were raped and three of them were abducted with pregnancy delivered at the armed bandit camps.
Wambai stated that the abductees were not killed by the bandits as anticipated as one after the other they were given sharp knives to slaughter their fellow abductees one after the other.
He lamented also that the painful part of the story about the Banga abduction is that the bandits demanded for the release of N50M ransom which he said the family battle hard to secure through sales and forfeiture of their housing assets.
He added that he was reliably informed that after the money was handed over, they still requested several jerricans of fuel to be able to drive their motorcycles and take the remaining abductees, a request which was also accepted by the relatives of the victims.
He also told newsmen that brand new phones were procured at their request, all with the aim of freeing the abductees.
He lamented that after providing everything they had requested, the bandits told the relatives that the abductees had been murdered.
CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE BY ZAMFARA POLITICAL ELITES
Wamban Shinkafi raised a serious concern that the problem with Zamfara’s insecurity is the conspiracy of silence demonstrated by the state’s political elites, who have access to President Bola Tinubu, yet refuse to genuinely communicate the state’s delicate security situation to him.
“I know there are those who have unrestricted access to the President, but they never went to him to genuinely relate the true situation of things in Zamfara for appropriate actions to be instituted”
He argued that if it were before, when he had access to the President, the issue of insecurity in Zamfara would have been made known to him. However, because some people went and blocked him the access, he had no option but to come to the public and share his ill feelings about the whole situation.
He insisted that if all the political elites in Zamfara could come together to meet the President regarding the insecurity in Zamfara, the situation would be brought under control.
“I will remind the President of the promises he made to us during the campaign, and tackling insecurity is part of it.”
WARNED GOVERNOR OVER NEGOTIATION FOR PEACE WITH THE BANDITS.
Wamban Shinkafi lamented that instead of the Zamfara political elites coming together to confront the insecurity facing the state, they resorted to playing the blame game.
He said that those blaming Governor Dauda Lawal for not providing a ransom to secure the release of Zamfara citizens abducted are making a baseless argument. He noted that previous administrations did not pay a dime as a ransom to secure the release of anyone abducted by bandits in Zamfara.
“I recall a time when a younger brother of the serving Governor of Zamfara, Dauda Lawal, was abducted, and he refused to pay a dime to secure his release. It was Matawalle, the Minister of Defense and then the sitting Governor, who facilitated his release without paying a dime. If that can be done, why would some people be putting pressure on Governor Dauda for not paying a ransom to secure the release of some citizens who have been abducted?”
“If the Governor attempted that, the entire Zamfara budget would be diverted to ransom payments, making it difficult even to pay salaries,” Wambai added.
He insisted that the Governor should not make the mistake of reconciling with the armed bandits and should instead continue to find ways to crush them.
THE STORY OF THE ALLEGED PLAN TO ABDUCT THE PARENT OF ZAMFARA SSG.
Sani Wambai, in the same media chat, highlighted how a gang of bandit criminals attempted to kidnap the father of Zamfara SSG, Alhaji Muhammadu Nakwada. He noted that if the entire SSG can be threatened through an attempt to abduct his 90-year-old father, then who is truly secured in Zamfara?
He stated that the bandits invaded the house of the SSG’s father and even succeeded in abducting him, but due to his age, they could not safely move with him and therefore decided to release him.
However, he mentioned that the bandits were able to abduct some members of the politician’s family, including a breastfeeding mother who was taken and forced to abandon her newborn baby.
He described the attempt to kidnap Alhaji Muhammadu Nakwada as heartless, considering his age. He noted that two years after the creation of Zamfara, Alhaji Muhammadu Nakwada retired from service, making his age presumably over 90 years.
