Bandits write nine Zamfara communities, demand levies

Terrorists have written to nine communities within the Bukkuyum Local Government Area of Zamfara State, asking them to pay levies or face deadly attacks.

The communities, which were sent letters include, Wawan Icce Salihu, Wawan Icce Ibrahim, Gangara, Gande, Tungar Gebe, Galle, Nan Narki, Ruwan Kura, and Yar Galma all in Bukkuyum Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

In their reaction to the development, the police command in the state said the alleged levy imposed by bandits on the nine communities is an old issue.

Police spokesperson, SP Mohammed Shehu, told Channels Television that the issue occurred about a month ago, adding that the police command has since taken action by deploying security personnel to those areas.

“It is an old issue and it has been treated for long,” Shehu stressed.

A youth leader in the area, Abubakar Gero, also told Channels TV that the letter was sent to the district head about a month ago, noting that some of the affected communities are still gathering money to pay the bandits so as to avoid being attacked.

“It is not recent, you know the communities are at alert, some of them did not pay and they are in the process of paying. The district head received the letter on the 27th December 2021,” he added.

The letters seen by Channels Television were written in the Hausa language and addressed to the different communities.

Each of the letters had the name of the community at the top and the money expected to pay.

There were also mobile phone numbers written on the letters. All the letters bore the same contents except the title of the town and the amount the bandits are demanding.

Below is a list of the communities and the monies expected from each one of them:

“Wawan Icce Ibrahim (N4,000,000); Wawan Icce Salihu (N2,000,000); Gaude (N1,000,000); Galle (N1,000,000); and Tungar Gebe (N500,000).
Others include Nan Narki and Ruwan Kura (N5,000,000 each), Gangara (N1.5 million) while Yar Galma is expected to pay (N5,000,000).

Despite claims by police that the letters are old, a source from one of the communities, Umar Abdullahi, said some of the towns have paid the levies while others are yet to pay the bandits.

“I can confirm to you that some of the mentioned communities have paid the levy except Yar Galma village and others where I don’t have any source of information in the community,” Abdullahi stated.

The source’s claim was further confirmed by Abubakar Gero, a resident and one of the youth leaders in Bukkuyum. He said it is true that payments have been made. He, however, said he could not precisely disclose the names of the communities that have paid. (Channels TV)