The Nigerian House of Representatives has summoned heads of relevant security agencies, over fresh attacks on some communities in Zamfara State.
This was consequent upon a motion brought before it by Member representing Gummi/Bukkuyi Federal Constituency of Zamfara state, Hon. Sulieman Abubakar Gummi.
Addressing journalists shortly after the plenary, Hon Gummi said Zamfara had enjoyed relative peace with booming marketing activities for the past 4 months, until the recent attacks.
“If you compare the previous 8 years with what is happening now, you’ll will see that Zamfara is relatively peaceful because markets are now open. A lot of markets that have not been opened for a while are now open.
“Zamfara Local government and other local government that are not within the borders areas are witnessing peace. You can now travel at night from one local government to the other.
“Gummi/Bukkuyi, my constituency happens to border with Kebbi and Sokoto states and that is where the problem is”, he said.
Narrating the ugly incident that happened recently, where dozens of locals were unaccounted for, after the attacks of bandits, Hon. Gummi said many families were forced into their houses and set ablaze, while the bandits move freely within the communities for days.
“These people move from the surrounding bushes, from Sokoto and Kebbi and we believe they came from those areas. They move in hundreds, almost 200 plus on motorcycles.
“I was in Abuja, I just came back from Lesotho with the Eagles, immediately I landed the first call that came to me was that people are attacking, bandits. They are moving in numbers.
“I decided to go to Sokoto before I got to Sokoto, they had already attacked the villages.
“Every second, people were calling, they are heading to so and so location. They are coming from this point to that point. There seems to be good intel on their movement. They know, they are sleeping in so and so secondary school in so and so location.
“The next day they move and continue their attacks, they spent two nights in my constituency, that means there is good intel. If I can get the intel, I am sure the security operatives got the intel too. But why were they not intercepted? That is the question we should ask. That means something is going on.
“They came and went to a particular village called Karaye, along the way they were killing and doing all sort of things. Their main focus was a village called Karaye, they surrounded that location, destroyed the whole village, there is no house that is standing. And what they do is they push a family into a house and set it ablaze and you can’t come out. Once you come out they shoot you.
“If you go to the hospital in Gummi right now you will see 3-year old with gunshot wounds on the leg. If you see the gory pictures from Karaye, you’ll weep. This is something we were seeing in the early advent of Boko Haram; this is what we saw there.
“And next day, they attacked another village in the morning and killed about 12 people and left to the forest and they have now disappeared, we don’t know where they are, almost 200 or over 200 militias”, Gummi lamented.
The lawmaker, while calling on President Muhammad Buhari to deploy more troops to the bordering areas, also urged security agencies and various stakeholders to find ways of restoring lasting peace to the state.
