Armed gunmen kidnap 100 Zamfara villagers over their refusal to pay a N110m harvest tax

ARMED gunmen have abducted over 100 villagers in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State over the failure to pay the taxes that were imposed on them by these bandits who effectively govern the region.

In a daring raid that highlights the growing confidence and audacity of these bandits, the villagers were snatched from Mutumji, Sabongari Mahuta, Kwanar Dutsi and Unguwar Kawo communities. They were rounded up after their villages failed to meet the deadline set by the bandits to pay the harvest levies imposed on them.

Alhaji Muhammad Usman, a villager from Mutumji, said that the bandits stormed the community at about 8pm and started shooting sporadically, forcing residents to run for safety. He added that the bandits’ kingpin in the area, Damina, had earlier imposed a tax of N110m ($134,000) on the communities as harvesting levies, giving them two weeks to comply or face the consequences.

“N50m levy was imposed on our community, while N30m was imposed on Kwanar Dutsi; N20m on Sabongari Mahuta and N10m on Unguwar Kawo” Alhaji Usman  added. Apparently, the communities had started contributing the money but the terrorists ran pit of patience and stormed the villages on Friday evening.

About a week ago, villagers were abducted in the Ruwandoruwa community of the same Local Government Area of Zamfara State. By far one of the most lawless states n Nigeria, large swathes of Zamfara of governed by armed hoodlums and earlier this year, the bandits killed a divisional police officer and some officers in Maru town of the same local government area.