How ‘crime families’ terrorize Zamfara villages

Mai Rairai is under Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and the village is trying to recover after being sacked by armed criminals. A resident Malam Yusha’u Bakano (not real name), set out for a nearby bush to gather firewood, oblivious of danger lurking ahead. He had had successfully gathered enough sticks for two […]

Mai Rairai is under Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and the village is trying to recover after being sacked by armed criminals. A resident Malam Yusha’u Bakano (not real name), set out for a nearby bush to gather firewood, oblivious of danger lurking ahead. He had had successfully gathered enough sticks for two donkey loads. On his way home, however, he was accosted by some unidentified men.
“When they stopped me, they cut the ropes I used to tie the wood on my donkeys and left with the animals,” Bakano said, adding  that he had to use his head literally to take his commodity home. “This is how bad it is. They’ve rustled all our cattle and now even donkeys are not spared,” he said.
Bakano told Weekly Trust that farms have become no-go areas for villagers, as the bandits have taken them over. “The rainy season is in progress, but most of us cannot farm, especially if we value our lives,” he said.
All in the (crime) families
Revelations like Bakano’s are nothing new in many parts of Zamfara State. Just last week, bandits sacked Dogarawan Chali village, leaving residents scattered about nearby towns and villages. But the striking aspect of these series of attacks by large groups of criminals is that residents always insist the bandits are far from ‘unidentified’. Locals even claim they know them and where they live. Even some traditional leaders disclosed to Weekly Trust that the bandit groups belong to ‘dynasties’ or ‘families’ of sorts.
District Head of ‘Yar Galadima, the village where more than 150 people were killed on Saturday, April 5, 2014, Alhaji Adamu Amadu, told Weekly Trust that he knows some of the leaders of the crime ‘families’. “These people doing all these things are known,” Alhaji Amadu said. “The government knows them. They know their leaders like Buhari, Kundu and Munjagara. They were arrested many times but released. They have established their dynasties where they rule like traditional title-holders. The government knows that. They should therefore deal with them. Our people are now migrating to other states, and many people have prepared their minds to migrate.”
Weekly Trust’s investigation revealed that around the villages and towns of Dansadau, Magama, Mutunji, Dangulbi, Doko, Chilam, Mai Rairai, Yar Galadima and other communities under Gusau and Maru local government areas of the state, there are about five crime ‘families’.
It was found that criminal ‘dynasties’ like that of Dutsen Baika, Hannu Tara, Gidan Sarkin Fulani Mai Kudi, Na Alhaji Shehu and Rabe Sarki are the most prominent. These ‘families’ are clans of sorts headed by the alleged criminals. A source said they thrive in an extended family form in the thick bushes that surround the various areas.
Another source, a resident of Magamin Mai Tarko, said everything was peaceful before the current escalation. “Most of these people are Fulani. To be sincere, some of them were not criminals before. But we began having problems with them when they deliberately bring their cows to our farms to destroy our produce,” he said.
The source added: “They would come and attack us, kill some of us and seize our cows. They would then take these cows and add them to theirs. We all know them and they know us. Before now, they visited our communities to buy essentials.”
Growing threat
Gidan Sarkin Fulani Mai Kudi, according to investigation, is a group that is comprised of many ‘families’ with Mai Kudi as founder. They are said to possess many weapons and wealth, mostly in cattle. It was learnt that they have been able to spread their tentacles to neighbouring states. The sophistication of the group, according to sources, is what is making the authorities to tread softly around the issue.
A resident said: “The [government] knows them. They are only afraid of them. This is why they sometime call them for meetings and plead with them to stop what they are doing. Sometimes they even buy motorcycles and other things for them. The question to ask is simply that how can a responsible government allow known criminals that are killing and maiming innocent citizens to be moving freely?”
Superstition, also, is rife. Some residents believed that the bandits have magical powers, thus explaining government’s inaction.
“We don’t care about so-called magical powers. The major predicament that is preventing us from finding solution to our problem is lack of weapons. If they know that their powers would give them victory over us, why are they using sophisticated weapons to attack us? Let them rely purely on magic and see what would happen,” a resident said, angrily.
An interesting factor is the presence of moles. The ‘families’, according to findings, perpetrate crime with the assistance of informants. Residents say the threat posed by these ever-growing dynasties of crime need to be dealt with decisively by government.
Apart from the existence of these crime dynasties, the attitude of villagers is said to sometimes compound the security challenges they face. Weekly Trust learnt that some residents sometimes take the law into their hands, sometimes ambushing and killing bandits out of frustration. One resident confessed: “When we see one of them alone, since we know them, we sometimes ambush them out of frustration. But whenever we do that, their cohorts attack our villages in retaliation.”
Extortion, kidnapping and other trades
The crime ‘families’, Weekly Trust learnt, operate not unlike a well-oiled organisation. “The impunity they exhibit has reached a stage that they have become a parallel government of sorts and can go as far as storming a random village and slamming a compulsory tax on them,” a source said. He added that the bandits would send a letter to the community they are targeting, asking for N50,000 or even up to N500,000. He added: “If the community fails to dole out the money, they would attack. Therefore, how can anyone convince us that the government is not aware of this?”
Apart from the violent attacks, locals revealed, the bandits sometimes kidnap girls and women. A resident, close to tears, narrated the following to Weekly Trust: “During most of their raids on our communities, they abduct our women and young girls. When they impregnate them, they would send them back to us with some cash, telling them to use it in taking care of their unborn children. Can you imagine that type of humiliation?”
Investigation revealed that recently a detachment from the Nigerian Army had launched an assault on the area, targeting the bandits, many of which were killed. Hundreds of cows were recovered, since claimed by their owners. Security sources disclosed that the operation will continue.
The official angle
Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin Magaji, said the government is collaborating with relevant security agencies with a view to addressing the problem. “This is a security issue, which requires careful handling,” he said, adding that the state government is not aware that criminals are imposing taxes on some communities.
However, all efforts to make the police in the state respond to the issue were in vain. The state’s police command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Lawal Abdullahi, was contacted severally at his office and on the phone, but he insisted that only the Commissioner of Police can respond on the issue. During Weekly Trust’s last visit to DSP Abdullahi, it was learnt that the Commissioner of Police, Baba Tijjani, was in a security meeting.
But with what residents insist is going on in some villages and towns – even with denials by government officials  – it is apparent that Zamfara’s crime ‘families’ are doing what families do best: Expanding.