No fewer than five local governments in the eases part of State are reportedly under the controlof bandits.
According to Vanguard, the bandits terrorizing residents and killing anyone in their way.
The LG under siege include Isa, Sabon Birni, Rabah, Goronyo, and Illela local council areas of Sokoto.
In a recent attack, a young businessman was reportedly shot and killed at close range while many others were reportedly tortured, wounded, and kidnapped.
Reportd also revealed that the bandits are not even afraid of security agents and have killed several soldiers and policemen.
According to Vanguard, many communities have been abandoned, and residents have fled to urban centers.
“Many soldiers, policemen, and personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, have also been killed since the deadly gangs took over the five council areas of Sokoto State and have continued to attack anyone in sight. Many communities and hamlets across the eastern part of the state have been set ablaze, forcing residents to flee to urban centres where they feel more secure, thus leading to the emergence of more internally displaced persons centres in Sokoto, the state capital,” Part of the report read.
It further claimed that the situation is so bad that the Olusegun Obasanjo College of Science and Technology in Bafarawa has been deserted.
“As a result of the relentless attacks, Sokoto has emerged as one of the worst-hit states in the Northern part of Nigeria in the last two years,” the report claimed.
According to a local resident of Isa Town, Alhaji Yusuf Sada, the town has become a hotbed of banditry activities due to the numerous informers who work for the criminals.
He told Arewa Voice that the informers provide the bandits with information on the whereabouts and movements of the people in the town. He further stated that he had to share a room with his mother and her grandchildren for fear of being targeted by the informers who might report that he was in town.
“Isa has become a recruiting centre for bandits with a countless number of informants who give details and movements of people to bandits. I am over 60 years old, but the most unfortunate and annoying thing is that I have to sleep with my mother and her grandchildren in the same room for fear of informers who may likely give information that I am in town.
Imagine, I have to pass my own house and sleep in my mother’s room with the children when I have my own private apartment, just for the sake of fear of unforeseen marauders. I have since relocated to Sokoto, the state capital.l,” he said.
On the efforts of the citizens and government to restore peace and order in the state, a retired military officer, Col. Garba Moyi Isa, has begun to clear the bush and make the road more visible to security agents.
A top federal public officer from the area has also donated N20 million and three vehicles to help with the security effort, as reported in the report by Vanguard
The government has condemned the attacks and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Residents are calling on the government to do more to protect them from the bandits.
