The traditional ruler of Dnata chiefdom in Tafa Town along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, Chief Bitrus James, has lamented th sacked territorial communities under his rulership by bandits.
Chief James in an interview with Daily Trust cried out that the activities of bandits have stopped people in his area from farming.
Dnata community was carved out of Kagarko by the immediate past Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, in 2022.
The traditional ruler mentioned six communities – Gadunda, Kwakulu, Jida, Isa, Kuyeri and Mpape as part of those that are currently sacked by bandits.
He revealed how bandits ravaged Gadunda on December 2, 2023 and ordered villagers to leave and only to return if they paid N10 million, noting that some herders close to the hamlet who had initially ignored the order had to flee the community when the bandits started slaughtering their chickens and other animals for consumption.
He said the daredevil bandits also forced the wives of the villagers to cook food for them, after raping them.
Five other communities also had the touch of the bandits as about 300 to 500 kidnappers were running various camps in the areas.
According to him, from December 24 till date, bandits had carried out several operations, moving from one community to another and abducting their victims at will.
“They first went to Gami village and abducted some residents, then Tafa-Pai, Tafa-Gari, as well as Pariga, where they killed three people and abducted 10 others,” James said.
“They also killed three people in Mpape, a village under Kagarko Local Government Area, not that of the FCT.”
The chief said N10 million ransom was paid in the case of one of the villages named Parigy, only for the kidnappers to kill one of the victims and placed another N10 million demand as a new condition to release the remaining 10 victims.
The monarch narrated that in the case of Mpape, the ransom was paid but the bandits still demanded six special motorcycles, each costing N1.5 million.
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