Bandits have taken control of several communities in Niger State, setting up toll gates and imposing extortion levies on locals, as terror spreads like wildfire in the Northcentral Nigerian State, Sahara Reporters has reported.
Some of the overrun villages include Dogon-Dawa, Kurege, Kangarewa, and Mangoro. Locals told the press that the armed bandit militia has imposed restrictions on the free movement of goods and people, charging travellers and farmers between N200,000 (US$226.24) to N1 million (US$1,131.22).
“They (bandits) have turned the area into their own territory, operating unchallenged,” a local source told Sahara Reporters. The criminal rent system is parallel to the longstanding practice of bandit gangs in Sokoto and Zamfara States. Non-compliance could result in killings or the seizure of harvested crops.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the state authorities appear ignorant of the goings-on with the police giving assurances of a proper investigation.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
