At least 26 communities in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State have begun to contribute money to pay additional levies imposed by bandits who have also prohibited them from accessing their farms ahead of the wet season farming operations.
Residents told our correspondent that they were given a three-day ultimatum by armed groups, advising the farmers not to head to their farmlands until the levies requested from the affected areas were paid, Daily Trust reports.
The affected communities are Garin Faji, Cina Barka, Zululu, Dan Gari, Garin Maigayya, Gardi, Katsira, Garin Baushe, Sulmawa, Zakin Ganga, Dan Kware, Garje, Dogon Faru, Son Allah, Garin Galadima, Kafchi, Matabaya, Garin Labo, Zango, Kaifin Aska, Tsauna Dogo, Tudun Wada, Rambadawa, Ga Itace, Nasarawa and Garin Idi, the sources said.
A villager who is still in touch with residents in the impacted villages said the bandits threatened to kill or abduct anyone caught farming during the period.
The communities were granted three days. They said no one should go to the farms until the money is paid. “Any one caught farming would either be killed or kidnapped and would not regain freedom until N500, 000 ransom is paid,” he claimed.
He stated the citizens have begun to contribute money towards the needs.
A member of the Zululu community who refused to give his name claimed he was about to go to his farm on Friday when he heard about the edict.
“We were told that the bandits had banned farming activities for three days until the villages pay the levies they impose on us every year.
They indicated that they could have allowed people to travel to their fields and then kill some and abduct others but they wanted the money instead.
“They said security operatives have been taking away their livestock, saying that no farming would be allowed until the levies were paid,” he said.
He claimed the traditional rulers and Islamic clerics in the affected communities were due to meet with the bandits to agree on how much each village would pay before its citizens could return to farming.
The individual said the communities have been receiving the payments for years.
“We pay before we plant and sometimes every two or three months.” They may even pay now, and then come in three months or so and declare that nobody can harvest millet until another fee is paid.
“They normally ask for between N4 million and N6 million from a community. Villagers contribute what they can. certain homes pay N1,500 or N2,000 and in certain communities, farmers contribute up to N5,000 each, depending on the population,” he said.
Another source, an indigene of Garin Idi village who now lives in Sabon Birni town, told our correspondent that he came to sympathise with the residents of the affected communities when he visited the community on Friday, following the abduction of about 20 people in the early hours of the day, adding that the affected communities had already started raising money to pay the levies.
He said the bandits invaded Garin Idi and grabbed roughly 20 individuals on Friday when they believed the payments were being delayed.
They eventually informed community leaders that N600,000 must be paid before the victims would be released. “The money was paid and raised and the abductees were released on Friday,” he stated.
Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer in Sokoto State, DSP Ahmad Rufai, claimed the Command was not aware of the situation.
“We have no knowledge of that kind of thing. “Most of the time, these kind of incidents are not reported to the security agencies by the communities,” he stated.
Efforts to elicit the reaction of the Sokoto State Government proved abortive. Text and WhatsApp messages sent to the governor’s spokesman, Abubakar Bawa and the Special Adviser to the governor on Security Matters, Col. Ahmad Usman (rtd) seeking their responses on the claims were yet to be responded to as of the time of reporting this story.
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