Terrorists have unleashed a new wave of coordinated attacks on communities in Zamfara State, abducting several residents, looting property, and forcing villagers to flee their homes in fear.
The attacks, which residents said occurred between Tuesday and Wednesday, spread across Yan Uku community in Garbadu Ward, Talata Mafara Local Government Area, and extended to nearby villages, including Farin Dutse.
Eyewitnesses told PLATFORM TIMES that the terrorists struck on Tuesday night around 8 p.m., whisking away a man identified as Muhammadu Lakada, his son, and a neighbour, Lauwali. His son was later released, but with a chilling instruction to return home with a phone number.
“This is the second time within a year that my elder brother is being abducted. They took him around this same time last year. Just a few days ago, they robbed him of his clothes, shoes, and cap before coming back for him,” a relative of the victim recounted.
Residents said the criminals returned on Wednesday evening in broad daylight, storming Farin Dutse at about 5 p.m. and abducting more villagers without resistance.
The sustained assault has triggered mass displacement, with scores of families abandoning their communities for safer areas within and outside Zamfara.
“People are leaving in large numbers. I was called by someone who said bandits were sighted close to other villages, and that means no one can risk sleeping in their homes tonight,” another villager said.
Security presence remains minimal as residents lament that the terrorists move freely, plunging entire communities into fear.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police Command, Yezid Abubakar, were unsuccessful as calls and text messages were not responded to at the time of filing this report.
Zamfara, one of the states worst hit by banditry, has witnessed repeated abductions and mass displacements, with locals accusing authorities of abandoning them to their fate.
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