Insecurity: Over 100 Miners, Kidnapped 10 Dead In Zamfara – Emir

No fewer than 100 miners operating between Anka and Maru Local Government Areas of Zamfara have been abducted by bandits, the Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, has disclosed.

Ahmad, who is also the Chairman of the state Council of Chiefs, made this known in Gusau on Tuesday when the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor led service chiefs on an assessment visit to Gov. Bello Matawalle.

According to him, the bandits also killed 10 persons during an invasion of a mining site in the state.

He said the incident, which occurred on March 2, was overshadowed by the abduction of the 279 GGSS, Jangebe girls, by another bandits’ gang which took place on the same day.

“The bandits have been attacking those involved in artisanal mining and carting away their money and property.
“There is a disconnect between miners and bandits in the state, so we were surprised when the declaration of ‘no fly zone’ was recently slammed on our state over suspected arms supply and illegal mining when the state does not even have an airport.

“We know that there are states with more security challenges than Zamfara and we expected that if such order would be issued, it should also cover such states.

“Our artisanal miners, who are licenced, have been very helpful to the state’s economic growth and they have played significant roles in ameliorating the hardship faced by IDPs in the state by supporting them,” he said.

The first-class traditional ruler, who called for more security personnel to fight banditry in the state, noted that “the peace and dialogue initiative of our governor has become necessary because at the moment we have less than 5,000 security men fighting over 30,000 bandits,” he said.