No fewer than 10 villages under Bingi ward of Maru local government council of Zamfara state are now under the control of bandits.
Consequently, thousands of the affected communities mainly women and children on Friday blocked the Gudau- Sokoto highway along Tashar Abu village in protest.
Speaking to Blueprint via telephone, a resident, Malam Musa Muhammadu Bingi, said the bandits had stormed Bingi Village on Wednesday during its market day on motorcycles in their hundreds on a reprisal mission.
He said their action followed the arrest of one of their members by the vigilantes, adding that they dispersed traders and burnt many shops.
Bingi said further that the bandits successfully displaced over 10 villages, adding that thousands of the residents particularly women and children “have now been rendered homeless.
“We have now converged on the main Gusau-Sokoto highway together with our families to show our grievances against the negligent by the security personnel attached to our areas as well as the state government who must do something without further delay,” Bingi said.
He added that the villages of Bingin Maru, Bingin Bungudu, Tungar Arna, Tungar Mani, Arwar Kura, Gidan gwani, Danbore, Danjikko, Kwarya Tsugunne, Tungar Jagara had been deserted and were already under the control of the bandits.
Bingi appealed to the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, deploy no fewer than 200 additional troops to the areas to contain the recalcitrant bandits.
