- The association condemned the escalating violence, citing the recent killing of District Head Muhammad Bawa
Residents of Sokoto State, particularly in the Sabon Birni Local Government Area, are grappling with severe insecurity as a local professional group, the Gobir Development Association, reveals that the community has paid over 160 billion naira in levies and ransoms to bandits.
In a statement issued by the association’s chairman, Idris Alhassan Gatawa, and its secretary, Professor Aliyu Gobir, and shared with the press on Saturday, the group disclosed that more than two billion naira has also been lost to armed bandits.
The association condemned the escalating violence, citing the recent killing of District Head Muhammad Bawa, who was abducted and murdered by bandits along the Sabon Birni-Sokoto Road after an official engagement in the state capital.
The group stated, “Over 60 billion naira has been paid in ransom, more than 100 billion naira in imposed levies, and over two billion naira has been lost to armed bandits.
“Additionally, around 600,000 cattle and five million sheep and goats have been rustled over the past five years. Two-thirds of arable farmland is now inaccessible due to fear of attack, leading to severe economic losses, food and nutrition insecurity, and significant psychological and social disruption.”
The association has called on all levels of government to take urgent action to end the killings, kidnappings, displacement of people, and livestock rustling, urging a return to peace and stability in the affected areas.