At least 100 miners plying their trade between Anka and Maru Local Government Areas of Zamfara State were abducted by armed bandits on Wednesday, March 2, Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, said on Tuesday.
The monarch spoke when the Service Chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabo on an assessment visit to the state paid a courtesy call on the state governor, Bello Mattawalle.
Ahmad, who is chairman of the state Council of Chiefs, also said 10 persons were killed when bandits invaded a mining site in the state, but the incidents didn’t attract attention due to the abduction of the 279 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, which occurred 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 over the declaration of ‘no-fly -one’ recently 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 licensed, 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,” the monarch said.
He appealed for the deployment of more security personnel to fight banditry in the state, noting 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”.
The monarch however, assured the Service Chiefs of the support and prayers of residents in the state.
In his remarks, General Irabor commended the role of traditional rulers in fighting crime in the state and urged them to continue engaging their subjects to provide credible information to assist security agencies in curtailing activities of the bandits.
Meanwhile, Governor Matawalle has assured that his administration would intensify its moves for peace and dialogue as well as support the security in sustaining the onslaught against unrepentant bandits.
