By Desire Emmanuel
Bandits on Saturday night invaded some villages in Zamfara State and set homes ablaze after residents reportedly failed to pay the levies imposed by them.
Bandits in recent times have imposed various amounts as levies imposed on communities as conditions for the residents to enjoy relative peace. The levies imposed are in millions of naira.
In some instances, they enter into ‘peace deal’ with communities and the deal always collapses after a few days.
However, a competent source in the state told Impact Nigeria News Online on Sunday night that the bandits invaded some villages in Mada town, Zamfara State, in what was described as coordinated attacks.
They were said to have razed many buildings in the villages while residents scampered for safety as the bandits had a field day carrying out the destruction without being challenged.
The source said: “Homes were set on fire, livelihoods destroyed and families forced to flee. Communities across both the eastern and northern corridors of Mada are now living in fear.”
It was also gathered that the bandits warned farmers never to go to their farmlands either to plant crops or to harvest their farm produce until the levies they imposed were paid, warning that any farmer that violated their order would be killed.
However, while the destructions were being carried out by the bandits, the source said distress calls were made to security agencies but they didn’t get any response.
As of the time of this report, the state government is yet to respond to the arson carried out by the bandits.
