The security challenges in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State have taken a turn for the worse. Besides demanding money from farmers before allowing them to plant or harvest their crops, terrorists are also taking the daughters of helpless villagers as wives, radicalising the youths and compelling community members to cultivate their lands as a condition for them to have a measure of peace. In this piece culled from THE NATION, INNOCENT DURU reports that many members of the farming community have been kidnapped at one time or the other and made to pay huge ransoms to regain their freedom. Some of the victims were killed by the terrorist group after ransoms were paid.

A few weeks ago, the Secretary of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, Mohammed Abubarkar Maialo, went to his farm to till the soil and plant some crops without any foreboding that he was visiting the farm for the last time.

Shortly before he concluded the task he had set for himself on that fateful day, bandits invaded the farm and whisked him and his brother away.

Subsequently, the terrorist group made contacts with his family, asking for a huge sum as ransom, which the victims’ relations rallied round to pay.

That, however, was not enough for the bandits to release him.

“The bandits said the money was not up to the sum they demanded. So they killed him and kept asking his family and friends to send more money.

“It was in the process of sending more money that his younger brother escaped and told the community that his elder brother was killed 11 days before he escaped from captivity.

“Abubarkar was not the only one killed in that manner. We have had so many others killed after paying ransom for them.

“Many farmers are being killed, kidnapped and maltreated,” Ishaq Usman Kassai, Chairman of Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU) told our correspondent.

The fear of bandits pervades the entire area. It is a topic that many members of the community would never get into for any reason. The bandits hold the ace and dictate the pace in a good part of the area.

Farmers are worst hit as they can no longer access their farms because of the menace of the bandits.

“If you dare speak against them, you will be killed on that day. That is why people are not talking about the bandits,” a community member and farmer, Ibrahim Umar, told The Nation.

The state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had earlier raised the alarm about the spread and grip of bandits in the state.

In a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari, El-Rufai said: “Terrorists are consolidating their grip on communities in Kaduna with a “parallel” government and “permanent operational base” in the state.”

Sharing some of his unpleasant experiences with bandits, a farmer, Surajo Isah, shared some of his unpleasant experiences with the bandits thus: “I have friends that have been kidnapped and brothers who were shot dead while visiting the farm.

“About four months ago, my brother was travelling from our community to another. After passing the army checkpoint, he ran into some bandits who are always staying there.

“They wanted to kidnap him but he resisted them. In the course dragging with them, the bandits shot him dead.

“His corpse was taken to our grandmother’s house. When she saw the dead body, she suffered a heart attack and later died.

“Last year, the bandits came to my house and kidnapped my wife, my brother and my boss’ wife. I was the one who entered the bush to deliver the ransom to the bandits. Our predicament is much worse than the picture being painted.

It was after dropping the ransom that they released my people. The bandits told my wife that they were from Birnin Gwari bush. They called the names of all the villages in our place.

“I have left my farms and some family members to seek refuge elsewhere.”

To broker peace between the bandits and the people, Surajo said: “The army and our community leaders called for dialogue with the bandits but that didn’t work. They have guns that I have never seen even in American films.

“I chatted with one of the mobile policemen drafted to our area. He told me that the kind of guns that they have is nowhere near the ones that the bandits have.

“The government knows where they are. If they say they don’t know, let them come and be escorted to where the bandits are. Our people know where those bandits are hiding in the bush.

“You cannot travel for more than two kilometres without meeting the bandits. They are there for 24 hours.”

Our correspondent’s encounter with Ibrahim Umar, a youthful farmer, further revealed the level of despondency among the people. Aside from having had his family members killed by the bandits, he has had to leave over 20 hectares of land he had planted on for them.

He said: “Everywhere you go, you will find the bandits.

“There was a time the bandits called and asked us to pay N10 million before they would allow us to cultivate our farms. We told them we didn’t have such money and that if we had we would have given it to them so that they would allow us to farm.

“The bandits then warned us not to come to the farm, saying that if we should come, they would kill us.

“At that point, we agreed among ourselves to leave the farm until the government takes action on this.”

Asked what the response of security operatives had been to the threat, he said: “Up till now, we have not seen any soldier, police or vigilante group.

“We are indigenes of Kaduna and not foreigners. Nobody cares about our plight and nobody talks about it. I don’t know what we would do in this country.

“We are trying to get some weapons so that we can protect ourselves, because the government does not care about us.

“We have bandits here and also the Ansaru. Every time, they come inside Damari. When you come there you will see them with AK 47, AK 49 and machine guns.

“The bandits killed my brother and four others in our house. They came around 3 am and started shooting indiscriminately.

“My brother was the first to rush out of the house when the bandits started shooting. I was only lucky to escape on that day. When we came back, we saw our people’s corpses lying on the ground.

“Our people are leaving in droves to use trucks to carry loads for people so that they could get some money to feed.”

Another member of the community, Ibrahim Zaharaddeen, lamented that the menace of the bandits was too much for the people to bear, adding that it has affected their social and economic lives badly.

His words: “People are barred from carrying out their business activities along the road. Also in the farms, thousands of hectares of land have been abandoned as a result of insecurity.

“There are villages where if you move a kilometre, you can easily be kidnapped or killed. We are being forced to abandon our farming activities and animal husbandry.

“It is only lands that are close to town that can be cultivated. We have been on this for many years.

“When they kidnap people, the family members of the victims may have to pay ransom three times before the terrorists release their victim.”

Zaharaddeen said: “A neighbour of mine was kidnapped recently. After collecting ransom from his family, the bandits didn’t release him. They kept asking for more money.

“At times, when the bandits invade a village, they would cart away all the valuables and also kidnap about 20 people.

“I am a farmer. I have left some of my farmlands because of the menace of the bandits. We have become hopeless in the face of what is happening to us.

Villagers farm for bandits to have peace

The impunity with which the bandits operate in the area appears dumbfounding. Findings revealed that they have been forcing the villagers to work for them on their farms as a condition for some respite.

Ishaq Usman Kassai, Chairman of Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU), said:

“The issue now is that these bandits are into farming. There is one Yellow Jambross, who two weeks ago told four communities in Birnin Gwari that if they want peace and want to farm this year, and even for them to stay in their communities, they should go and work on his farm. About 140 people in that community went to the farm of that particular bandit Last Tuesday and worked for him in order for them to have peace of mind on their farms.”

The secretary of the group, Comrade Abdulrashid Abarshid, said he had also learnt about the ugly development. He said: “I was told that some communities used to go and farm for the bandits just to have peace. The people that are vulnerable to them cannot do otherwise.

“I don’t know what the government is doing about dealing with those people. There are some groups of bandits that allow people to move around. They intentionally allowed people to use the road.

“The bandits are moving freely with their guns. Even you, if you go, you will see them.”

Terrorist group wins villagers’ hearts, marry daughters, radicalise youths

After many years of bloody attacks and mindless killings of their members by bandits, some communities in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area gladly accepted the offer of the Ansaru group, a splinter of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, to protect them against bandits.

To the surprise of the embattled people, the Ansaru group began to repel attacks from bandits who had effortlessly invaded the communities to unleash terror on the villagers.

With that singular feat, the Ansaru group gained the confidence of the people and embedded themselves deeper in the communities.

Laudable as their mission was, checks around the communities revealed that the group had an ulterior motive which they have started showcasing.

“The Ansaru group has a similar ideology to Boko Haram. They are there in Western Birnin Gwari and they have been there for years.

“They camp in the bush the way Boko Haram does. It is only recently that they started showing the real motive why they are there.

“They go into the community, share pamphlets, wear army uniforms and carry sophisticated weapons. They tell members of the community to stop western education, politics and whatever is western,” Ishaq Usman Kassai Chairman of Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU) told our correspondent.

He further said: “They told the villagers that they are protecting them from bandits. From there, the villagers concluded that the Ansaru group was there to protect them.

“Based on the acceptance they are getting, they started marrying the villagers. This development is very dangerous.

“I understand that Ansaru is more dangerous. It is better to be with bandits than to be with the Ansaru group.

“The Ansaru group is recruiting people and changing their mindset. That is why they are very dangerous. They are cajoling the youths and asking them to become terrorists.

“They are telling the youths to take arms and fight the government and stop everything that western.

“Terrorism will continue to escalate in this area if the government fails to act. Children are being radicalised. Over 50 youths were recruited by Ansaru.”

orroborating Ishaq’s remarks, a resident of the embattled area, Ibrahim Zaharaddeen, expressed concern about the activities of the Ansaru group in the communities.

He said: “The people have agreed and accepted the Ansaru group up to the extent that they marry off their daughters to them. The Ansaru group takes the villagers’ daughters into the bush.

“Sometime last month, there was a clash between the Ansaru and another terrorist group. One of the Ansaru men that married a villager was killed during the clash.

“The parents of the girl that was married to the late Ansaru member asked that their daughter should be returned to them but the Ansaru people said the daughter could not return to the parents.

“They said she had joined them permanently and that there was no way she could return to their families.”

The Ansaru group, Ibrahim said, came in, assuring villagers that they were going to assist them against bandits.

“They came using religion as a decoy. The Ansaru people have sophisticated weapons and small explosive devices with them. Sometimes the Ansaru group repelled bandits when they came to attack.

“Because the villagers have lost hope in government, they embraced the Ansaru group. I don’t believe that they are here to help us. Rather, I believe that they have come to add insult to our injury because we don’t know what will happen next.

“The worst thing is that they have started recruiting some individuals from the villages to join them. If care is not taken, they may later turn to another Boko Haram and the problem will get worse.

“Honestly, people have lost hope in the government, and that is why people embraced the Ansaru group.

“The Ansaru group always quotes verses of the Quran and Hadith of the Holy prophet to convince the villagers that they are there to help and not to cheat them.

“Like I said, someone like me would not buy into that idea because I believe that they have come to do more harm.

“People have abandoned their farms and that will affect food supply.”

‘Discussions on agriculture could draw natives into tears’

Following the losses they have recorded over the years, discussing agriculture in the agrarian communities move the people to tears.

Surajo Isah said: “If you talk about agriculture in Birnin Gwari, some people may begin to shed tears, because a man that was harvesting two to three bags before will hardly have a bag of rice or maize now.

“As I am talking to you now, I have a brother that was harvesting more than 5000 bags of produce before. Today, he cannot harvest 50 bags of maize.

“If this continues for the next five years, I don’t think you will be able to see up to 1,000 people in Birnin Gwari anymore if you remove Birnin Gwari town.

“Our population is reducing on a daily basis. Some people are migrating to Kano, Katsina and other places.

“The bandits kidnap and kill. We cannot go to our farms. If they kidnap you, you must pay a huge sum of money as ransom to secure your release.

“I have more than 10 hectares of land in one area, and two hectares and three hectares in other places, but I cannot access them again.”

Describing the farms as a no-go area for the people, Ishaq, the BEPU chairman, said: “If you go to your farm, the bandits will attack and kidnap you.

“The farmland that we used to cultivate is no longer accessible. It is only farms that are very close to the town that we can cultivate now.

“Unfortunately, those farms are tired and are not as fertile as those that are far away. Bandits are covering those distant farmlands. 70 per cent of the farmlands are no longer accessible.

“Many members of my community have been kidnapped. Last year, more than 100 people in my community were kidnapped.

“There was a time they kidnaped between 60 and 70 people. People had to contribute money in the Kakanji community for us to pay the bandits and secure the release of our people.

“We paid about N14 million to secure their release. We cannot determine how much the individuals that were kidnapped paid for their release.”

Continuing, he said: “If the bandits allow you to farm, when it is time to harvest the crops, they will stop you from doing that even when you paid to plant the crops at the beginning of the season.

“At times when you want to harvest, they will ask for money ranging from N300,000 to N1 million. The size of your farm will determine how much they will ask you to pay.

“When you remove all the monies collected by the bandits, there will be no profit left for the farmers. Our people pay to harvest our produce just to minimise the losses. “The bandits kill victims even after collecting ransom. They sometimes kill if what they asked for is not what the victim pays.”

Also bemoaning their plight, Comrade Abdulrashid said: “You can’t access the farms that are two kilometres away from the town because of the activities of the bandits. They kidnap, extort and ask for ransom.

“Before they would ask for how much you would pay, they would first beat you. After the beating you, they would ask you how much you want to pay.

“I know of several people that have been kidnapped by the bandits and you have no alternative but to pay what they ask you to pay.

“Some communities negotiated with them and paid some millions of naira so that they could be allowed to harvest their produce.

“Some time ago, the farmers in some communities could not harvest their produce.”

360 people killed by bandits 1,389 persons kidnapped in Kaduna in three months

To show the level of havoc being wreaked by bandits in the state, a security report by the Kaduna State government revealed that bandits killed at least 360 persons in the first quarter of 2022 (January – March).

According to the 52-page quarterly report presented to the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, by the Commissioner for internal security, Samjuel Aruwan, the figure also includes those killed in communal clashes.

The latest figure by the state government comes as attacks in Kaduna and other parts of the North-west heightened in the past few months.

In 2021, bandits killed 1,192 people in the state and kidnapped 3,348 others, according to SBM Intelligence.

Deaths from insecurity in the state in 2020 were three times higher than those recorded in the North-east states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, which are battling terrorism.

According to the report, 1,389 persons were kidnapped during the period under review within the three senatorial zones of the states.

Among the local government areas worst hit were Birnin Gwari, where 169 persons were kidnapped, Giwa 158, Igabi 263, Chikun 287 and Kajuru 203.

It also said no fewer than 249 people were kidnapped due to banditry and other violent attacks in the Kaduna South Senatorial District alone within the same period.

Other incidents are the rape of 10 women, including six minors, 258 injured due to banditry and communal clashes while 3,251 animals rustled during the period. Of the 3,251 animals, 3,137 were stolen from Kaduna Central, accounting for 97 per cent of the total.

According to the report, 41 bandits were neutralised by the ground force while more than 60 were neutralised through various air strikes carried out at identified bandit camps within the state.

Budgetary allocation rises as insecurity escalates

A run through the statistics of the country’s budget shows that allocations for security have continued to rise over the years as the menace continues to escalate. In 2016, allocation to security gulped N1.06 trillion and moved up to N1.14 trillion in 2017.

In 2018, the allocation jumped to N1.35 trillion and rose in 2019 to N 1.76 trillion. In 2020, allocation to the sector was put at N1.78trillion.

Put together, the total allocation within the five years under consideration totaled N7.1 trillion.

Between 2011 and 2015, budgetary allocations to the sector by the Goodluck Jonathan administration stood at N4.62 trillion.

The allocation to security in 2011 was N920 billion and N924 billion in 2012. In 2013 and 2014, N923 billion each was allocated to security while the sum rose to N934 billion in 2015 to bring the total to N4.62 trillion.

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) said that at least 60,000 people have been killed in Nigeria’s 18 northern states in the last 10 years due to insecurity,

In a new report by CDD titled “Multiple Nodes, Common Cause: National Stocktake of Contemporary Insecurity and State Responses in Nigeria,” the CDD said in the Northwestern states of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara, about 14,000 people lost their lives between 2011 and 2021.

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