One of the 85 kidnap victims of Wanzamai village in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Zainab Abdullahi, has escaped from the bandits’ camp.
According to PUNCH, an indigene of the area, Abubakar Na’allah, who disclosed this over the phone said Zainab escaped on Friday night and has been reunited with her parents in the village.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that bandits kidnapped 85 children, who were between the ages of 12 and 17, and marched them away into the forest.
Na’allah said Zainab was among the kidnapped girls who were assigned by the bandits to fetch firewood to cook for the victims in the bandits’ camp.
Explaining how she escaped, he said, “When Zainab and other girls went to fetch firewood, she (Zainab) decided to run away and was able to come back home.”
Na’allah said the young girl was well and hearty although she looked pale.
He expressed disgust over the refusal of the bandits to release the abducted persons despite the N3 million they collected from the Wanzamai community.
Recall that the bandits had levied the Wanzamai community the sum of N3 million for the release of the 85 kidnapped victims but after collecting the money, they (bandits) insisted that an additional amount should be paid.
The bandits have also insisted that the military personnel deployed to Wanzamai village should be withdrawn from the village.
But the state Commissioner for Security, DIG Mamman Tsafe (retd.), said that the state government would not withdraw the military personnel attached to that village, The PUNCH reports.
“We will not withdraw the military personnel no matter the pressure from the bandits,” he said.