Burra community in Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State have stated that it in the year 2020, it spent over N72m for the ransom of loved ones who were kidnapped.
Disclosing this while speaking with newsmen in Bauchi, Mamuda Hassan Tabla, The Executive Chairman of Ningi Local Government stated that the people of the area are now living in perpetual fear every day due to incessant kidnapping and other forms of banditry.
He said;
“The communities witnessed series of abduction of their people. Whenever a person is abducted, the bandits will ask the victim to take the ransom to Zamfara State and within the last one year, the communities said they paid over N72million as ransom,”
“When we received the report, we decided to investigate the matter and discovered that the present administration inherited the problem. We noticed that people from other states started settling in the bush since 2012 with series of kidnappings taking place, even in Ningi town
“We have reported the matter to his Excellency, the Executive Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed. The Governor sat with us on three occasions concerning the issue of security in our area. Gladly, the governor took urgent action to address the situation by sending fighter jets that ransacked the bush and cleared the criminals from Lame Burra game reserve
“The Governor deployed security personnel to protect the people and recruited hunters and vigilantes as part of an effort to protect the lives and properties of our citizens which reduced the activities of banditry in our area,”
He further stated
that the communities live in palpable fear due to the activities of the bandits kidnapping their people and are gradually taking away their farms, adding that the move is to make the residents of the communities in abject poverty as they keep paying ransom to them and losing their farms.
He also said that the council met with traditional rulers, security operatives and all relevant stakeholders, stressing that they are compiling the report of the activities of the bandits, after which it will take it to the state government for necessary action.
ALSO READ:
