*Abductors Demand N125m Ransom
This appears to be a bad time to be a peacemaker in Zamfara State, in the troubled North-West Nigeria, as about 50 elders who turned up for peace negotiations initiated by terrorists in a forest, ended up being kidnapped by their hosts.
As a corollary, and apparently showing no respect for age, a ransom demand of N125million by the terrorists is now hanging on the necks of the peace-loving elders, some believed to be over 70 years old.
While police said 39 people were abducted on Sunday during a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in Maradun, North-West Zamfara State, some residents and officials believe the number of those abducted could be as high as 50.
It is believed the victims were meeting the relatives of a terrorist leader in the hope of bringing peace and easing restrictions clamped on the community.
Zamfara State is the home state of Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
“While the meeting was ongoing, the bandit kingpin allegedly arrived at the location with members of his gang and forcefully abducted 39 members of the group to an unknown destination,” State Police Command spokesperson, Yazid Abubakar, said in a statement on Monday.
Chairman of Maradun Local Government Area (LGA), Hon. Sanusi Ahmed Dosara, told a local newspaper that authorities in the state were opposed to reconciliation with terrorists.
He said the terrorists had recently blocked all roads leading to the community market to show their anger over the persistent killing of their members by security operatives.
Dosara frowned at the community’s decision to meet the aggrieved bandits, who,to him, were seeking an opportunity to retaliate.
Zamfara State is at the centre of a long-running security crisis in which armed groups, locally referred to as bandits, carry out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids.
The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands.
Individual negotiations with kidnappers have occurred to gain access to farmland or secure the release of abductees despite authorities warning against it.
According to Abubakar, security forces have deployed personnel and intelligence assets to locate the victims.
Several individuals were reported by villagers to have been released to convey the kidnappers’ ransom demands to the village.
Bashar Aliyu, a resident of Magamin Diddi, said the armed group was demanding N125m for the release of those abducted.
Abubakar said security operatives were working to rescue the captives and had assured residents that every effort was being made to ensure the victims were rescued unharmed and the perpetrators brought to justice.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State.
