Zamfara: Bandits kidnap council chairman, kill four security men

Residents of Bungudu Local Government Area in Zamfara State were in grief on Friday night after bandits killed four security officers and kidnapped the council chairman.

Residents shared with PREMIUM TIMES that the incident happened around 11:40 p.m. The council chairman, Nura Abdullahi, was taken from Bungudu town along with two other residents.

Jamilu Bungudu, who is a media aide to Abdulmalik Zubairu, the local federal lawmaker, said the attackers invaded the chairman’s official home. They took Mr Abdullahi along with Halliru Soja, a worker at the Federal Medical Centre in Gusau, and Hussaini Naira, a POS operator.

Mr Bungudu reported that during the attack, the gunmen killed four security personnel who were with the chairman before they drove him away.

The victims were identified as Inspector Basiru Lawal, police constable Hamza Muhammad, and two vigilantes, Nura ADC and Ibrahim Baare. Also, Bello Abdullahi, a former treasurer in the state Ministry of Finance, was hurt in the raid.

Attempts to contact Yazid Abubakar, the police spokesperson for Zamfara State, for an official statement were unsuccessful at the time of this report.

Bungudu LGA is about 21 kilometres from the state capital, Gusau. This area often suffers attacks from bandits who kidnap for ransom and strike security posts.

In April, armed bandits on over 50 motorcycles stormed Yarkatsinan Laka, a village nearby. They hit a local security outpost and a clinic, killing two police officers, two health workers, and a patient.

While security forces have stepped up operations in the area, violence still persists. In May, police killed two bandits while fighting off an attack in the Nahuce District of Bungudu. During follow-up operations on local transport routes, like the Bilbis, Kuncin Kalgo road, special police units found and safely detonated pressure-plate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) set by bandits to target patrols and civilians.

Bungudu’s rural areas have faced repeated attacks. In places like Karakkai and Gwargwabe, bandits have set houses on fire, killed people, and destroyed many food storage silos, worsening the humanitarian and food security problems in the region.