Zamfara State Government says 35 suspected masterminds of the recent attacks of some rural communities in the state have been apprehended by the police in the state.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information Ibrahim Dosara, said the suspected criminals comprisis of kidnappers, bandits’ informants and those aiding and abetting banditry in the state.
The statement noted that the suspects have since been interrogated and have confessed to the various crimes, and have already been transferred to Abuja, for further action before prosecution.
The government and the security agencies are also making frantic efforts, using human intelligence, to make more arrest of the criminal elements terrorising the various communities, particularly in the state capital.
It explained that the suspected bandits act on the intelligence supplied by informants to kidnap and transport their victims to the bandits to their den within and around the state for ransom.
The government is also disturbed by the behaviour and attitude of some people, particularly landlords within the cities and towns, who give out their houses for rent to people they do not know.
It was surprising to also note that, all the 35 suspects were arrested in Gusau, the state capital, and some of them are civil servants.
The state government, therefore, expressed delight over the arrest of the 35 bandits terrorising people within the Gusau Metropolis.
The government has, therefore, warned the bandits to renounce their criminality, and embrace the state government’s ongoing dialogue and peace initiative, to become good citizens, stressing that the government intends to take punitive measures against criminals, as a matter of urgency.
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The statement said, the state government also strongly warned traditional rulers to keep vigil on landlords, who give out their houses to people with suspicious character, within their domains, as the government will soon start to arrest any landlord found to have given out his or her property on rent to bandits, kidnappers, informants and dealers of weapons for the bandits.
The state government also warned people involved in hunting and killing suspects, without due regard to the laws of the land.
The state government has accepted that people in the vulnerable areas in the state to come out en masse to defend themselves, whenever bandits attack their communities.
Meanwhile, the state government has announced the lifting of the ban on commercial activities in the four markets in the state.
The action is following several calls by concerned citizens, to lift the ban, to allow the common man to have access to his basic needs, during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
The affected markets are Magami, Wanke, Dansadau and Dauran.
The four markets were ban from any activities last week, following attacks and killings of innocent people, within the affected areas.
