Zamfara Communities Suffer as Bandits Attack and Extort Residents

On 5 October, a notorious bandit leader, Dankarami Gwaska, and his men attacked a military base and mining sites in the gold-rich Bindin ward of Dansadau Emirate in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

His fighters killed 14 soldiers and mobile police officers at the base and stole weapons from the armoury.

The next day, the terrorist sent messengers to Bindin, demanding money from the community for the weapons he lost after his men were killed in the area days before he attacked the military base.

Residents confirmed that Mr Gwaska’s men were killed in Bindin, but not by the military. They said they were killed by rival terror groups in the area.

Mr Gwaska’s forces later killed many miners in Bindin ward to avenge his fighters' deaths. He also imposed a ₦50 million "protection levy" on Bindin and nearby farming communities.

Residents said the terrorist extorted about ₦360 million in protection levies from the communities within two weeks of attacking the military base.

According to residents and security sources, the destruction of the town’s military base has forced almost everyone to flee.

These sources shared videos and photos with our reporter showing locals and miners leaving in heavily overloaded vehicles.

Mr Gwaska is a well-known bandit in Zurmi Local Government Area. He attacked the palace of the late Emir of Zurmi and is infamous for village raids, cattle rustling, and kidnapping for ransom in the Zurmi area.

Local sources said Mr Gwaska moved to the Dansadau Emirate recently, fleeing pressure from the military and rival terror leader Bello Turji. He had also escaped an assassination attempt in neighbouring Niger Republic.

In Dansadau, he formed protection deals with local mining operators after driving out smaller gangs from key sites, including the major gold deposit in Bindin.

These deals forced miners to share their earnings with the terrorist.

To keep the peace, Mr Gwaska made separate agreements with local communities, including Dan Kurmi, Bindin, Gobirawa Chali, and areas extending to Magami.

Residents and security sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the temporary peace brought over 10,000 people to Dansadau to work as labourers at the illegal gold mines and boosted local business activity.

Under the protection deal over the past year, labourers keep one-third of the gold they mine, while the operating entity takes the remaining two-thirds.

But tension grew after Mr Gwaska’s group reportedly increased taxes on the labourers.

This led to fights where several of his fighters were killed. While rival bandit groups were suspected, Mr Gwaska blamed the labourers and the military, leading to the retaliatory attacks on the military base and mining areas in Bindin on 15 October.

Bindin is at the edge of the ungoverned Kwiambana forest, linking Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Niger states. It is one of five wards in Dansadau Emirate. Other wards are Kwiambana, Dan-Gulbi, Dan-Kurmi, and Dansadau town.

The Dansadau Emirate covers 492 of the 1180 square kilometres of Zamfara State, which is over one-third of the state’s land area.

The land is good for farming and livestock, and is believed to have large gold deposits.

Mr Gwaska and other bandits operate from the Kwiambana Game Reserve, which offers natural cover from security forces and for moving stolen cattle and abducted people.

The government set up the Kwiambana Game Reserve in Zamfara to protect wildlife. The forest stretches from ‘Dajin Rugu’ to the Kontagora Forest.

The reserve might become a UNESCO heritage site, but now it is a known hideout for criminals.

But disagreement over peace deals is not the only cause of violence in these troubled areas.

Residents told PREMIUM TIMES how another terror leader, known as Rambo, moved to avenge his men killed by local vigilantes in Yantasha. The vigilantes also allegedly took their guns.

In a letter seen by this newspaper, Rambo listed his complaints and ordered the community to return the confiscated rifles. But the vigilantes ignored him, challenging him to retrieve the guns by force.

Knowing the community could defend itself, Rambo targeted other weak areas, raiding communities like Yar Gada, Mai Kogo, Magama, and Mai Rake, causing heavy casualties and mass displacement.

Rambo said he would block the Magami, Dansadau highway until he got ₦50 million in damages.

To enforce this blockade, he planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs), forcing the road to be closed for three days until the military cleared the area on 9 October.

The army confirmed the success of the demining operation in a statement by Aliyu Danja, an army spokesperson for Operation Fasan Yamma, the counter-banditry force in the state.

"Troops of Sector 2 have recovered and neutralised explosive devices planted by terrorists to cause havoc to commuters along the Magami, Hannutara, Dansadau road in Maru Local Government Area. Acting on credible intelligence, the troops secured the area, searched thoroughly, and found two spots with explosive devices. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was deployed to safely detonate one device and neutralise another,” Mr Danja said.

But a day after the military cleared the road, Rambo’s men ambushed a civilian convoy traveling from Dansadau to Gusau under military protection.

They killed several travelers and burned their vehicles.

In an audio message to PREMIUM TIMES, one of the bandit leaders warned that the highway ambush would continue until the vigilantes returned the guns.

“We burnt the vehicle because, while we lived peacefully with the people in Magama and Yar Tashin Sahabi, vigilantes suddenly attacked, killed our people, and took our guns. This year, God willing, we will burn 250 vehicles unless you return those guns to us,” the bandit said in the audio message.

Efforts to reach the police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazid Abubakar, for comments were unsuccessful. The army spokesperson, Mr Danja, could also not be reached for comments on the situation.

Nuhu Babangida, a community leader in Dansadau and a member of the Leadway Peace Foundation for Human Rights Advocates (LPFHRA), spoke about the attacks with PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Babangida said many bodies have not been recovered at the Bindin mining site, where several miners were trapped and shot by bandits.

He blamed the constant attacks in the area on local vigilantes, saying residents suffer the consequences.

Mr Babangida said the rise in violence along the route is closely linked to vigilante groups attacking bandits in the area.

“The vigilantes ambush and kill bandits even during peaceful times; they know that the local people, whom they claim to protect, end up suffering from their actions,” Mr Babangida said.

Whenever these vigilante attacks happen, bandits retaliate by attacking innocent residents along the route, he added.

Mr Babangida also mentioned a political angle to the violence, noting that these attacks tend to increase during election times.

“Some politicians take advantage of these situations to cause elections to be cancelled in areas where they are not popular. In their opponents’ strongholds, they create insecurity so that political activities cannot happen, giving them an advantage,” Mr Babangida said.