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| Nigerian Army. File photo |
Troops of the “Operation Sharan Daji” in Zamfara have arrested the Vice Chairman of Anka Local Government of the state, Mr Yahuza Wuya for alleged link to bandits.
The Acting Information Officer of the operation, Maj. Clement Abiade confirmed the arrest of Wuya in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja Thursday.
Abiade said the council vice chairman was picked up on April 13 based on credible intelligence linking him to bandits’ activities in Wuya and Sunke communities.
He alleged that Wuya “seamlessly assist in selling rustled/stolen cows and donkeys as well as giving information about troops, other security agencies and vigilantes’ movement to the bandits.’’
The acting information officer also alleged that the suspect aided “the release of a notorious gun runner (Sani Yaro) from the Gusau prison.’’
In another related development, Abiade said troops arrested two suspected informants along Burukusuma-Sabon Birni road in Sokoto State.
He named them as Malam Ibrahim Bangaje and Mallam Ado Bayero.
Abiade said that they would be handed over to relevant security agency for possible prosecution after initial investigation.
Meanwhile, the Force Commander Operation Sharan Daji, Maj.-Gen. Hakeem Otiki has restated the commitment of troops toward enduring peace in Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto states.
Otiki, who is the GOC 8 Division Sokoto, appealed to the public to support the operation by reporting suspicious activities and movement of bandits to nearest security agencies for prompt action.
NAN reports that on April 10, Gov. Abdulaziz Yari, said 3,526 persons were killed by armed bandits in the state in the last five years.
Speaking during a Town Hall Meeting attended by the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, Yari said nearly 500 villages had also been devastated and 8,219 persons were injured, some are still in critical condition.
He also said that over 13,000 hectares of farmlands were either destroyed or made useless as the farmers can no longer farm them.
“The economy of the state has seriously suffered because thousands of shops were destroyed by the rampaging bandits who had displaced thousands of our people from their places of abode, many of whom cannot sleep with their two eyes closed because of fear,” he added.
Yari said the government had written volumes of reports containing over 7,000 pages, giving details of the crises right from the beginning to the infiltration from Libya and Boko Haram.
He disclosed that the government was aware of eight prominent bandits camps at different bush locations in the state, and urged that they should all be neutralized in order to decimate the criminals.
