Armed bandits on Friday abducted over 100 people, mostly women and children, in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The bandits raided four villages: Mutumji, Sabongari Mahuta, Kwanar Dutsi, and Unguwar Kawo, all under the Maru Local Government Area, for failing to pay levies imposed on the communities.
Sources from Mutumji told our correspondent that the bandits invaded the community around 8 p.m. after prayers and started shooting sporadically, forcing residents to scamper for safety.
Residents said a bandits’ kingpin operating in the area, Damina, had imposed a N110 million “harvesting levy” on these communities, giving them two weeks ultimatum to comply and pay.
A N50m levy was imposed on Mutumji, N30m on Kwanar Dutsi, N20m on Sabongari Mahuta, and N10m on Unguwar Kawo.
Another source from the area said the communities started gathering money when the terrorists invaded the community on Friday evening.
Several attempts to get reactions from the state government and police authorities in the state were not successful.
The latest abduction was barely a week after 15 people were abducted in the Ruwandoruwa community of the same local government.
