• Bandits’ attacks turn women, children to displaced persons in Kebbi communities
From Olanrewaju Lawal
Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and his cabinet members recently spent three days with displaced victims of banditry at different camps of internal displaced persons (IDPs) in Zuru and Yauri Emirates in the state. The Emirate is situated in Kebbi South Senatorial districts which comprises seven local governments.
The visit afforded the governor the opportunity of interacting with the victims and listening to their painful and agonizing stories.
Prior to the visit, bandits had attacked some villages in Zuru Emirate. They include Makuku, Sanganga,Leke, Kango, Gareji, Dauda, Dankolo and Dokabere. The governor visited IDP camps at GSS Dirin Daji, Linzamiya Primary School, Ayuba Dan Bauchi/GDSS Diri Daji in Sakaba LGA and Junior Secondary School Chonoko in Danko Wasagu LGA of the state.
At the Linzamiya Primary School in Dirin Daji, he met one Hajia Sakina Sanusi, a female IDP who gave birth to twins on her way to the camp. According to her, the bandits had attacked their village, burnt their houses and carted away their animals and farms produce. She said she was able to escape from the terrorists while others were not lucky.
She said she developed labour pains when she was running through different paths to escape from her village which was under attack by the bandits.
She said: “When we got wind that the bandits were attacking our village, I started running towards the bush. From there, I got to farm routes and continued running throughout the night. I started feeling labour pains and when I got this village, I delivered my babies.
“We need soldiers in our village. If they are many here; we can go back to our village, go back to our houses, so that we can continue our normal lives. These bandits have killed many of our people and carted away our wealth which includes our animals. It is only Allah who helped me to escape from being killed. We are just managing ourselves in the camp,” she said.
Other inmates of the camp also narrated their tales of woe. Hadiza Leke, Hajara Alhaji Gereji and Fati Samiala Makuku, among others, narrated how some of their kinsmen were killed and their houses burnt by the bandits who invaded their villages. Also, Wasila Ahmad and Amina Makuku told the governor how the bandits attacked their villages and how they trekked for days through the forest to escape from their assailants.
Like Sakina Sanusi, many pregnant women from other villages said they gave birth inside the bush or on their way while escaping from the attackers. They are now residents of various IDPs camp in parts of Zuru and Yauri Emirates. Many children in the camps have lost their mothers or fathers and are now under the care of their community members or kinsmen. Many of them have becomes orphans and widows, awaiting the government or humanitarian organisations to give them fresh oxygen on how to survive.
District Head of Sakaba, Zuru Emirate, Alhaji Ladan Musa also commended Bagudu for working hard to safeguard lives and property of the people of the state.
He said: “That is why Governor Bagudu has been tagged as ‘Sakaba Governor’. The new Chairman of our local government is also emulating the governor in this respect. We just want to request from you that more security agencies should be deployed to our area so that our lives and property could be more protected and guarded, so that our people can go back to their various homes and continue their normal lives.”
Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Col (rtd) Samaila Yombe Dabai, who also hails from Zuru Emirate, assured the displaced persons that the state government would not abandon them to their fate. Dabai said the government would provide all basic things and measures to ensure the area was safe and protected against transgressors from neighbouring states.
Bandits also unleashed terror on the residents of the Tungar Zarumai and Bakin Turu villages in Shanga Local Government Area of Yauri Emirate few days after the Sakaba LGA attacks. They did not spare domestic animals from their unjust attacks. Cows, goats and chickens and farms were burnt by the bandits.
The governor walked round the affected villages to ascertain the level of destruction, in company with the Emir of Yauri and some of the governor’s aides and government officials.
The governor told the traumatised victims: “Assorted relief materials, including food items and other domestic needs, will be distributed to all the victims, effective from today. All efforts will be geared towards alleviating the suffering of the victims. We are here to condole with you over the unfortunate deaths recorded as a result of the attack, while we are also commiserating with all those who were injured. All those who had also fled due to fear would soon be reunited with their various families.”
Bagudu also described the attacks as unfortunate and preached to the victims to regard the incident as an Act of God .The governor vowed that efforts would be sustained to restore peace and tranquillity to the affected areas, as well as other troubled parts of the state.
He said efforts were being intensified by the state government and the security agencies to recover the abducted persons, hale and hearty. The governor solicited the support of the citizens, saying “the vigilantes and youths groups should complement the efforts of the security agencies.”
He called on the youths in the area to organise themselves and assist the community in providing security in collaboration with the security agencies. He said: “Make sure you involve all segment of the people, irrespective of their tribe or religion, to form security so as to complement efforts of the vigilantes.”
He also noted that more attention would be focused on women and children by providing assistance to them through socio economic interventions for them to return to their homes. He also pledged to make provision for their children to be enrolled in schools.
Bagudu, while charging the chairmen of Zuru Emirate Local Government Area, said: “Security issues will not be politicised or be given undue publicity. What is required are adequate planning, coordination and cooperation. Security challenges in Kebbi State are a spill over from our neighbour, Zamfara State, and everything is being done to redress the obnoxious trend. In fact, President Muhammadu Buhari has supported us. He has recently given an approval to us to take more proactive measures and we have done so.”
Emir of Yauri, Dr. Muhammad Zayyanu Abdullahi, described the incident as unfortunate and shocking. He called on the affected victims to take it in good faith as destined by God. The monarch added that what was needed now was to take proactive measures to forestall future occurrence, even as he requested relief assistance to the victims.
Member of the House of Assembly representing Shanga, Hon Tukur Muhammad commended the governor for the visit and expressed delight that the visit would bring additional security and relief assistance for the victims.
Some of the affected victims – Yububu Usman, Sani Noma, Alhaji Tahiru and Danjuma Hakimi who were affected in the Shanga attack, expressed happiness over the governor’s visit. He also requested more relief items in terms of food, shelter and the deployment of more security to their village.