Zamfara State farmers, especially those in the rural areas are crying out for help as armed bandits have designed another means of collecting levies from them.
According to one of the large scale rice farmers, Alhaji Nuhu Deme, the bandits forcefully collect illegal levies from the farmers.
He said that refusal to pay the levies would amount to the destruction of the farmlands or the farmers would be kidnapped until their relations pay certain amount as ransom.
“Nobody can go to his farm without fear of being kidnapped by the notorious armed bandits,” Deme lamented.
When asked whether the State government was aware of the ugly trend, Deme told DAILY POST that series of letters have been written to both the State government and the security agencies but to no avail.
“We have even said it verbally but nothing has been done to that effect. We are being treated as if we are illegal aliens even in our own land.
“The truth remains that the security operatives in the area are just inadequate to contend with the armed bandits,” he added.
He lamented that the areas need more and well coordinated security network, stressing that the federal government needs to do something about the ugly situation in the State.
Deme said that the rate of killings and kidnappings in the State was more than the rate of such crime in the entire north East zone.
