Local communities in Kaduna State pay bandits N400m a year to be left in peace

ARMED bandits and terrorists operating in the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna State now charge local communities as much N400m ($964,00) to leave them live in peace and to refrain from kidnapping residents.

Kaduna State has been terribly affected by the spate of kidnapping, banditry and terror afflicting Nigeria, with abductions and killings taking place on a daily basis. Alhaji Zubairu Abdulra’uf, a community leader from the Birnin Gwari Emirate Council in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, said local people were allowed to go to their farms this rainy season after the bandits were paid.

He said that the people of the emirate have all started defending themselves against the activities of terrorists that had taken over the area in recent years. Alhaji Abdulra’uf added that the incessant attacks on communities by the terrorists had paralysed economic activities, especially in the rural areas and made it completely impossible for people to travel to undertake their legitimate activities.

Alhaji Abdulra’uf said:  “When you talk of Birnin Gwari Local Government as a whole, it’s between N300m to N400m paid to these bandits. About N200m was paid to the terrorists in the Randegi district alone."

He further explained that the payment is in three stages, stressing that the bandits are paid in pre-season and mid-season when the crops are about to start yielding. Alhaji Abdulra’uf added that payment has to be made to the bandits because they will not allow the farmers to have access to their farms.

According to the community leader, at the end of the season when the farmers are harvesting, they will also pay the bandits before they are allowed to access their farms. Alhaji Abdulra’uf also revealed that the levy does not end there, pointing out that each farmer also gives between two to 10 bags of grains to the bandits.

He said the residents of Birnin Gwari have been paying the levies for over three years pointing out that it is very frustrating. He added that since the government cannot protect them, the local people, they have chosen to arm themselves.