Bandits now barter ransom for cooked food, use victims as delivery men

Bandits in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State are no longer demanding ransom from relatives of their kidnapped victims.

Not that they have repented.

Since the state suspended weekly markets in the area, the bandits have been cut off from their sustenance. Ransoms collected are no longer useful.

According to a report by the Daily Trust, bandits operating along Damari, Kutemashi and Kuyello villages now ask for cooked food each time they abduct people.

The ban on sale of fuel in filling stations located in rural communities had also helped to restrict their movement.

“There is relative peace around Damari, Kuyello, Kutemashi because the bandits have stopped attacking our communities. They usually stay in the forest and seize food items mostly cooked ones from vendors,” a source told the newspaper.

And the manner of demand is novel: When they abducted two or three persons in farms, one is allowed to go and get them food from their relatives as ransom since there is no communication network to make contact.

The measures—stopping supplies of food and fuel—kicked in Zamfara at the same time military operations are going on across the state forest.

Dispersed criminals have since settled in neighboring states like Sokoto, Kaduna, and others whose state governments have taken similar measures.