Bandits who have continuously plagued the Northwest and other regions in recent times have now resorted to asking for cooked food as ransom.
It was gathered that the hoodlums who operate around Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have reduced their activities as a result of the state ban on weekly markets as part of measures to tackle insecurity in the state.
The latest development was confirmed by a youth leader in one of the villages of Birnin Gwari, Babangida Yaro.
Yaro said that since the ban, bandits operating along Damari, Kutemashi and Kuyello villages only asked for cooked food each time they kidnapped people.
According to him, the ban on sale of fuel in filling stations located in rural communities had also helped to restrict their movement.
“There is relative peace around Damari, kuyello, Kutemashi because the bandits have stopped attacking our communities. They usually stay in the forest and seize food items mostly cooked ones from vendors,” he said.
Yaro revealed that on some occasions, if two or three persons are abducted, one is set free to source for food from the relatives as ransom as there is no communication network to make contact.
The youth leader added that Dogon Dawa area is still not completely safe because villagers are still scared of accessing their farmlands.
Babangida also lamented that the ban on use of private Motorcycles in the villages had increased hardship on the bandits as well as residents.
