155 killed, 50 abducted in less than one month, says Zamfara gov

Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara state, has revealed that 155 persons had been killed by bandits in less than a month.

Yari disclosed this in a statewide broadcast on Monday.

He also said that over 50 persons had been kidnapped during the period.

Yari said 53 people were killed in Shinkafi local government area; 50 in Maru local government area; 37 in Maradun local government area and 15 in Zurmi local government area.

The governor said even though the federal government launched a military operation against the bandits in July, the criminals regrouped and returned with vendetta, killing and kidnapping innocent people and demanding large sums of money as ransom.

He said after a meeting with stakeholders in the state on Monday, the state government set up a crisis management committee comprising security agents, civil servants, legislators and retired security agents.

Yari said the body was charged with the responsibility of assessing the damages caused by the activities of the hoodlums to enable the government to assist the victims.

He appealed to the federal government to deploy more military personnel to the state to tackle the insecurity challenge.