At least 20 residents of a community in Nigeria’s Zamfara state have been killed by a criminal gang associated with the dreaded ‘kingpin’ Lawali Damina in retaliation for the disappearance of assault rifles.
Local leaders have also confirmed that all the male inhabitants of the Randa community, including children, have been abducted by these «bandits».
All this because, according to these notables, the residents were unable to say where two assault rifles owned by two criminals killed by a comrade in the midst of a romantic dispute over a young woman in the community were located.
The area is practically no man’s land, between the states of Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger, empty of the presence of security forces.
There, groups of «bandits» roam freely and are increasingly venturing into surrounding military installations, as evidenced by last September’s attack on a forward operating base, which claimed the lives of 13 security forces personnel.
Since then, according to Premium Times, the security forces have been disengaged from the area, where the «bandits» have taken advantage of the situation to plunder the resources of the communities, from which they demand exorbitant protection taxes.
Such is the situation that the state government went so far in the summer as to ask the population to arm themselves in view of the increased insecurity caused by these groups, which have been declared terrorist organizations by the Nigerian government.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
