ELDERS of rural communities in Katsina State have lamented that men in their villages now work as slaves on farms ‘owned’ by bandits, even as the hoodlums have developed a taste for constantly raping married women and teenage girls.

In a report by BBC Hausa Service, the elders described the series of invasions and atrocities committed by the bandits as mind-boggling. The elders under the aegis of the Movement to Secure Katsina Citizens called on all “patriotic citizens” to contribute to the efforts to tackle the security problems in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the others in the interview with BBC Hausa Service, one of the elders, Dr Bashir Kurfi, noted that apart from the senseless killing of innocent people and cattle theft, raping of women and teenage girls by the bandits was now rampant in the communities.

Kurfi said: “It is not hearsay; quite often, we come across victims of rape, women who were raped and even mutilated by these bandits. Even more worrisome, these bandits will knock on the doors of villagers and ask the men to bring out their wives and daughters. These hapless men have no option but to obey or they will face the music.

“The wife or daughter will go with the bandits for one or two weeks and return to their homes after being sexually abused or raped. This is the calamity that has befallen most of our communities.

“I recall one day when we took nine women to the hospital after being gang-raped by 40 bandits. The hospital we took them to advised us to take some of the women to VVF centres for proper care,” he said.

He expressed his dismay at the way the bandits were inflicting pains on the people “as if we don’t have a government.”

He said: “We all know these bandits move around with motorcycles. Where are they getting the bikes? They move around with AK-47 rifles. How did they get them? Where are they getting the drugs they are taking? What is really happening? Why is the government aloof? These are pertinent questions that are waiting for answers.”

The elders also condemned the position of some state governments who are signing peace deals with bandits without results.

Kurfi said: “How do you sign such peace deals without making concrete arrangements for the victims? It is not enough to dialogue with these bandits. Several negotiations have taken place between the state governments and the bandits but no state government can as of yet tell you sincerely that insecurity has ended in its domain.”

He said the community elders were displeased with the continued closure of schools in the state and were pained that rural dwellers were becoming increasingly vulnerable to attacks.

“The bandits attack, kidnap and take the villagers to work on farms as slaves while they rape women and girls. Usually, a bandit kingpin will storm a village with his men and take the men as slaves to work on their farms,” Kurfi lamented. (Nigerian Tribune)

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