At least about 52 people have been killed by gunmen at Malitawa village in Gidan Goga district of Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State. A source from Faru town, which shares border with Gidan Goga community, told our correspondent on the phone that on Saturday the bandits killed 27 people.

The source said the 30 bandits, who all rode on motorcycles, invaded Malitawa community about 3:30p.m. and killed 27 people. The source denounced reports by the police that the killing was as a result of land dispute between two communities.

“The attack which led to the killing of about 52 at Gidan Goga community was carried out by the bandits who entered the town with sophisticated weapons,” the source added. The source maintained that when the bodies were lined up for burial, the bandits again invaded the community and started shooting sporadically.

Then about 25 people were also killed. But when contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Shehu Mohammed, insisted that the attack was as a result of land dispute between the Malitawa community and the Fulani residing in the area. Meanwhile, Islamic scholars across during the Ramadan Tafsir in various mosques have been calling faithful to embark on special prayers for God’s intervention to end the menace.

Meanwhile, the Zamfara State government and the Federal Government have jointly mapped out strategies to end banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping to provide conducive environment for this year’s wet season farming activities.

Governor Abdulaziz Yari disclosed this at the weekend at Nasarawa Burkullu in Bukkuyum Local Government Area, while flagging off the distribution of 25,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser procured by his administration in its bid to complement the Federal Government’s efforts on food security.

Yari said all possible plans and arrangements were concluded between the two tiers of government to ensure easy access to farmlands by farmers, especially in places within the hard-to-reach areas. He said: “Over 300,000 youths would be employed for farming activities this year.

The reason we toiled to increase the number of fertiliser we distributed last year from 11,000 metric tonnes to 25,000 metric tonnes this year is for increase in the size of expected farm produce and farming equipment.”

The governor added that the 14 local government areas in the state would share over 60 trailers of fertilizer. He said: “The state and Federal Governments are doing best to provide 500 tractors in efforts to ensure developed but modern farming activities in the state.” Yari recalled that his administration had utilised about N6.8 billion to secure the provisions of fertiliser aimed at promoting farming activities from 2016 till date. The governor kicked off the sales of fertiliser at subsidised price of N5,000 per bag for the 2018 farming season. (New Telegraph)

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