Zamfara’s abandoned villages: How bandits turned escape into death trap

For residents of some communities in Zamfara State, the choice is no longer simply between staying home and fleeing violence. It is increasingly a grim calculation between being killed while attempting to escape and being abducted if they remain.

A 55-year-old displaced woman, identified as Fatima, has offered a harrowing account of how armed bandits have transformed once-thriving communities into deserted settlements, forcing thousands of residents into forests and makeshift camps.

Speaking to the BBC, Fatima described a pattern of attacks in which armed men allegedly surround villages before launching coordinated assaults, leaving residents with few avenues of escape.

“If you run into a room, they set the room on fire, and if you come out and try to run, they shoot you,” she said.

“They kept shooting without mercy; shooting at people indiscriminately.”

Village emptied of life
Fatima said the scale of the violence had become so severe that a nearby village was completely abandoned.

“One nearby village has become completely deserted. There is not even a chicken left there,” she said.

She recalled one attack on her community that began at about 2am, when the attackers allegedly divided themselves into three groups.

According to her account, one group blocked the entrance to the village, another moved into the settlement, while a third positioned itself behind the community to prevent residents from escaping.

The strategy, she said, effectively turned the village into a killing zone.

Fatima claimed that the attackers sometimes arrived in overwhelming numbers, with as many as 100 motorcycles, carrying approximately three people each.

The attacks have left devastating personal losses. Fatima alleged that about 70 people, including children, were killed in Bia Buki village in June. Among those she said were killed were her husband and six of her seven siblings.

Children caught in flight

The violence has also created another danger: the desperate flight of families through forests and bush paths.

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Fatima said some children were injured while fleeing, including some who reportedly fell into holes as they attempted to escape the attackers.

After the assault, she and other residents ran into a nearby forest with their children, turning the bush into an emergency refuge.

“The forest became our shelter. We ran with our children. If you could not find your own child, you would carry your neighbour’s child,” she recalled.

From the forest, the displaced residents eventually made their way to Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, where Fatima now lives in a temporary camp with her seven children, aged between nine and 30.

From wealth to begging

The consequences of the attacks extend beyond the immediate loss of lives.

Fatima said many displaced families who once had homes, farms and stable livelihoods are now dependent on irregular assistance.

“We were wealthy when there was peace. But things have changed and we have become beggars,” she said through tears.

Food shortages and inadequate shelter have become part of daily life in the camp, according to her account.

Some displaced children, she said, have been sent out to gather firewood for sale so their families can raise money for food.

But even this survival strategy has allegedly exposed children to further danger.

Fatima claimed that 22 children involved in collecting firewood were abducted by bandits.

Fear follows survivors to the camps
Although the camp is about 25 kilometres from Fatima’s home community, physical distance has not erased the psychological impact of the attacks.

“When I first arrived at the camp, the sound of gunshots at night prevented me from sleeping,” she said.

Security conditions have reportedly improved somewhat following patrols by soldiers and government-backed vigilantes. But Fatima said the improvement has not restored confidence among displaced residents.

Her greatest concern is what awaits those who attempt to return.

She said she had received information that bandits had established a camp close to her community and that one of their commanders had effectively assumed authority over the area.

The alleged influence of the armed groups, she said, has reached deeply into community life, with some residents reportedly approaching a bandit leader to settle domestic disputes.

If verified, such accounts would point to a troubling evolution of banditry—from criminal attacks and kidnapping towards the establishment of parallel systems of authority in areas where government presence has weakened.

The economics of fear

Fatima’s story also illustrates how insecurity can destroy the economic foundations of rural communities.

Farmers who survive attacks may still be unable to benefit from their harvests because access to farmland and the movement of agricultural produce can be controlled by armed groups.

“Even if you return, you will only find hardship. There is nothing there, no food. You farm, but when it is time to harvest, they prevent you from harvesting or abduct you,” she said.

Vigilantes caught in an unequal war

A member of a government-backed vigilante group, who spoke anonymously, told the BBC that the group had been recruited by the Zamfara State Government to help defend vulnerable communities.

He said vigilantes sometimes received intelligence about the movements of armed groups and engaged them in gun battles.

“By the help of God, we fight them and defeat them,” he said, claiming to have participated in at least 20 such confrontations.

He added that communities continued to contact vigilantes when attacks occurred and assistance was required.

However, the reliance on vigilantes also raises questions about the sustainability of community-based security arrangements against heavily armed criminal groups capable of mobilising large numbers of fighters and motorcycles.

800,000 displaced in north-western Nigeria
Fatima’s experience is part of a much broader displacement crisis.

According to the BBC report, she is among an estimated 800,000 people displaced by conflict in north-western Nigeria, with insecurity and violence among the major drivers of displacement.

Across parts of the North-West, armed groups have increasingly used motorcycles to move rapidly between rural settlements and highways, carrying out raids and kidnapping operations before security forces can respond.

The groups have been accused of killing and abducting residents, looting communities and imposing levies on farmers.

In some areas, residents have reportedly been forced to pay money to armed groups before accessing their farms or conducting normal economic activities.

The result is an increasingly dangerous erosion of state authority, as communities become compelled to negotiate with armed groups simply to survive.

A home Fatima cannot safely return to
For Fatima, the question of returning home is therefore not simply emotional. It is a question of survival.

She still hopes to return to her community, but the prospect remains uncertain.

The destruction of homes and livelihoods, the alleged proximity of bandit camps and continuing threats to farmers mean that returning without credible security guarantees could expose displaced residents to renewed attacks.

Her account captures the dilemma facing thousands of Nigerians displaced by banditry: stay away from home and face hunger, inadequate shelter and dependence—or return and risk becoming targets again.

For Fatima, the calculation remains painfully clear.

Home may still exist on the map, but until security is restored, it is no longer a place where she believes her family can safely live.