Bandits are reportedly compelliing farmers in some Zamfara villages to part with huge sums of money in exchange for safe passage to harvest their crops.
A security analyst, Bulama Bukarti stated this in a tweet Wednesday evening, citing a report by BBC Hausa Service.
“BBC Hausa reports that bandits in Zamfara have stipulated “harvest fees” to the few farmers that managed to cultivate.
“The farmers had to pay the gangs to access their farms at the beginning of the season.
“And now they’re denied harvesting until they pay N300k-N900k per village,” Bukarti wrote on Twitter.
However, the Zamfara State Police Command has yet to confirm the report.
The Bello Matawalle government has maintained it would continue its negotiations with bandits in a bid to make the state more secure.
In spite of the negotiations, Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs in the state, Abubakar Dauran was attacked by bandits along Zurmi-Jibiya Road in Zurmi Local Government Area on Monday.
The commissioner was said to be returning from Katsina State where he had gone to hand over the 26 kidnapped girls rescued by Zamfara State Government to the Aminu Masari-led state government.
The commissioner lost his driver in the tragic incident.
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