BANDITS operating in Zamfara now kidnap farmers in various communities in the state and make them to work as slaves, Sunday Tribune can exclusively report.
One of the affected farmers in Dansadau area of Maru Local Government Area of the state, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, narrated the ordeal he and his colleagues are facing at the hands of the bandits.
Despite claiming that the farmers in November of 2021 negotiated with the bandits to allow them go about their farming business and have access to their farms, the bandits, he said, have not ceased their attacks by abducting them to work as slaves.
Narrating how the bandits have turned most of the peasant farmers into slaves to Sunday Tribune he said, “they [bandits] will usually storm a village in a commando-style, kidnap the villagers and take to the farms owned by [leaders] of the bandits kingpins where they would be forced to work on the farm”.
Most of the times, he narrated further, “such victims would be kept in the farms for months to be serving the bandits,” owing to fears of what could befall their families.
On why the villagers often followed them by not putting up resistance, the farmer explained that there was nothing they could do.
“The peasants farmers have no option but to follow them, if they want to remain alive. For instance, recently, they stormed a village about 75 kilometres to the state capital along Dansadau – Gusau highway and one of the villagers refused to follow them because he was sick. The bandits were angry with him. One of them just pulled out his gun and shot the sick man. He told him go and rest.”
He further explained that the farmers had continued to pay the bandits for their protection, saying that was one of the reasons they negotiated with the bandits in November last year.
“Before then, sometimes the bandits would collect between N1m and N2m from the farmers for protection as well as to allow farmers access to their farms.
“Let me give you a typical example. I have a 10-hectare guinea corn farm from which I used to harvest 300 bags. But do you know that before the dialogue [negotiations] with them, I could hardly produce 60 bags,” he recounted, adding that other farmers had their own disturbing stories to tell.
According to him, it was as a result of their terrible ordeals that farmers in the local government decided to dialogue with the bandits on their own.
“We told our traditional rulers that this is what we want. Sometimes in November last year, we met with the bandits and, at the end of the day, we reached an agreement with them. That is why you see in Dansadau axis we have relative peace.”
BANDITS operating in Zamfara now kidnap farmers in various communities in the state and make them to work as slaves, Sunday Tribune can exclusively report.
One of the affected farmers in Dansadau area of Maru Local Government Area of the state, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, narrated the ordeal he and his colleagues are facing at the hands of the bandits.
Despite claiming that the farmers in November of 2021 negotiated with the bandits to allow them go about their farming business and have access to their farms, the bandits, he said, have not ceased their attacks by abducting them to work as slaves.
Narrating how the bandits have turned most of the peasant farmers into slaves to Sunday Tribune he said, “they [bandits] will usually storm a village in a commando-style, kidnap the villagers and take to the farms owned by [leaders] of the bandits kingpins where they would be forced to work on the farm”.
Most of the times, he narrated further, “such victims would be kept in the farms for months to be serving the bandits,” owing to fears of what could befall their families.
On why the villagers often followed them by not putting up resistance, the farmer explained that there was nothing they could do.
“The peasants farmers have no option but to follow them, if they want to remain alive. For instance, recently, they stormed a village about 75 kilometres to the state capital along Dansadau – Gusau highway and one of the villagers refused to follow them because he was sick. The bandits were angry with him. One of them just pulled out his gun and shot the sick man. He told him go and rest.”
He further explained that the farmers had continued to pay the bandits for their protection, saying that was one of the reasons they negotiated with the bandits in November last year.
“Before then, sometimes the bandits would collect between N1m and N2m from the farmers for protection as well as to allow farmers access to their farms.
“Let me give you a typical example. I have a 10-hectare guinea corn farm from which I used to harvest 300 bags. But do you know that before the dialogue [negotiations] with them, I could hardly produce 60 bags,” he recounted, adding that other farmers had their own disturbing stories to tell.
According to him, it was as a result of their terrible ordeals that farmers in the local government decided to dialogue with the bandits on their own.
“We told our traditional rulers that this is what we want. Sometimes in November last year, we met with the bandits and, at the end of the day, we reached an agreement with them. That is why you see in Dansadau axis we have relative peace.”
