Bawa said that his sisters were part
of passengers in vehicles and that they were abducted along Birnin Gwari routes
by bandits. He begged the federal government to act fast before, so that his
sisters could be rescued.
His words: “Our lives are in
imminent danger! I’m looking for a way to leave this area; my sisters were in
one of the vehicles. I don’t know how they are faring. I fear for their lives.
The government should please come and rescue us. This present government in
Kaduna had promised to repair the road and place security checkpoints at
strategic points but all these seem to be empty promises.”
The Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area
of Kaduna State Highway for now has been taken over by bandits who operate at
will, abducting as many as 30 people on days they decide to operate. These
victims include women and children. All efforts by security operatives to stop
these criminals have been abortive.
A
security agent has given an insight into the reason military personnel and
policemen find it tough to curb the escalating cases of kidnapping along Birni
Gwari road, Kaduna State.
According to the source, who wishes to remain
anonymous over fear of losing his job since agents are not supposed to speak
with journalists, the road, majorly plied by trucks and interstate vehicles,
has become a centre of abduction because many suspected criminals and herdsmen
routed from other interstate roads, migrated to that axis.
For years now, Birnin-Gwari - Kaduna Highway has
become a road, where as many as 30 people are abducted almost every day.
Although a military base had been erected there, the abductions Nigerians
continued. In fact, several soldiers were killed by these kidnappers.
The operative disclosed that Birnin-Gwari - Kaduna
Highway became a monstrous path to travel, after the Inspector-General of
Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, detailed operatives of the Special Intelligence
Response Team (IRT) to Abuja-Kaduna-Kano express way. The move became necessary
after Nigerians were subjected to everyday kidnapping along that route.
The IRT operatives, over 200 suspects, most of them
Fulani herdsmen were arrested and over 100 Ak47 rifles recovered. Most of these
herdsmen were presented to journalists.
The security agent said: “That Birnin-Gwari - Kaduna
axis is a very dangerous spot because the kidnappers and criminals dislodged
from Abuja-Kaduna-Kano
express way, moved to that road. There is a thick forest there and it covers
three states; Zamfara, Niger and Kaduna. Many of them were arrested, but the
few remaining ones ran to that forest. Birnin-Gwari Forest is just like Sambisa
Forest and even some Boko Haram people used to run to hide at Birnin-Gwari
forest. It has become a sort of a safe haven for criminals.”
He further explained that the Birnin-Gwari forest is
a place, where most wanted criminals run to and are able to go underground.
He noted: “The gangs are ready to accept anyone as
long as the person is a criminal. Once you get there, they will ask you to join
their gang so every one of them could work together. No security agent can
penetrate that forest without an adequate preparation that entails using Armoured
Personnel Carriers (APC). The greatest challenge to security agents is that the
nature of the terrain will not allow them to enter. There is no road; the whole
place is a forest. Even our intelligence gathered so far, showed that the
criminals use motorcycles. That’s the only means of transportation to gain
access into that forest. The worst part of the whole scenario is that if the
security agents attempt to enter the forest with heavy equipment, they would be
vulnerable to these criminals.
“These criminals can ambush them because they know
the forest more than them. Most of them were born in the bush and grew up in
the bush. Moreover, if security agents are about to enter there, these
criminals have informants everywhere. Before you enter the bush, they would
know.”
The operative also disclosed that intelligence
reports further gathered revealed that ransom collected from victims’ families
are used by the kidnappers to buy cows, arms and ammunition. Parts of these
weapons are allegedly deployed in killing of Benue State indigenes.
The Kaduna State Police Public
Relations Officer (PPRO), a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Aliyu
Mukhtar, confirmed that scores of people, traveling from Kaduna through Birnin
Gwari to Niger State were even recently abducted by gunmen along the route.
According to sources, those abducted
were more than scores. One of the sources disclosed that over 32 persons were kidnapped
within 24 hours.
The Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for
Security and Good Governance had been calling on the Nigerian government to
stem the rising wave of abduction on that particular route. The group said
lamented on the increase in the abduction, stressing that the road was no
longer safe for travellers.
The name Birnin Gwari sends shivers
done the spines of most Nigerians. Today, the Birnin-Gwari Local Government
Area and highway can be described as one of the deadliest routes in the
country.
The Emir of Birnin-Gwari, Zubairu
Jibril Mai Gwari II, said that the town itself had been taken over by bandits.
Between May and June alone, no fewer
than 100 travelers were abducted along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Highway and
Birnin-Gwari-Funtua Road.
The chairman of the National Union
of Road Transport Workers, (NURTW) Birnin Gwari branch, Mallam Danladi Duniya, said
the road has been abandoned for some time. But depending on how important the
trip is, people still take the route, risking being abducted or out rightly killed.
Duniya said: "At a point, the
Birnin Gwari - Funtua road was abandoned by commercial drivers for about two
weeks over fear of the bandits. As we speak, the Birnin Gwari - Funtua road has
been deserted by our drivers. Bandits have taken control of that road. Their
activities have really affected our business along that axis because there are
no police or military checkpoints around that area.”
To really underscore the situation,
in May this year, no fewer than 44 persons were abducted along the Birnin-Gwari
- Kaduna Highway in a single day. The travellers were abducted from different
vehicles traveling from Birnin-Gwari to Kano. Duniya said that about 17
people were kidnapped along Kwanan Dutse in the same vicinity.
Duniya said: “The victims were attacked
and carried into the bush. Some of them are yet to be accounted for.”
He noted that there was a time 21
passengers were abducted from vehicles belonging to members of their
association. This was followed closely by the abduction of another 25 travelers
along the Birnin Gwari - Funtua road. Those in the area at the time said
those abducted might be more than 25 people.
Duniya said: “This is what we
go through on the road. We’re pleading with the authorities to help us address
this problem. People cannot go to farm and they cannot travel! This is too
bad!”
A driver, who declined to mention
his name because of the security situation in the area, said the road is now “a
no go area for most motorists.”
He added: “I pity villagers living
around that axis because we, as commercial drivers, have since stopped plying
Funtua-Birnin Gwari road for some time now."
In the absence of security
operatives, the bandits used to mount road blocks and scrutinize passengers,
deciding on those to abduct and those to rob.
A resident of the area said:
"We live in fear every day; particularly the people living in villages
around that area. Due to activities of these bandits villagers now migrate
to Birnin Gwari town. The bandits can be found in some villages along
Farin Ruwa before Nachibi village along Birnin-Gwari - Funtua road. Nachibi
village is the main den of the bandits.”
According to him, there are no
security personnel along that route until a motorist reaches Kuyello village,
close to Katsina border. He also disclosed that, "All kidnapped victims
from Kaduna highway are taken to Funtua-Birnin Gwari road because it's their
safe heaven.”
Our correspondent gathered that some
citizens now pay homage and taxes to the bandits to allow them go to their farms
and businesses.
The Birnin-Gwari Vanguards noted: “The
recent abduction of commuters along this strategic route linking southern part
of the country and the north has further deteriorated the security of
Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area.”
The group urged the federal
government, to as a matter of urgency, conduct aerial bombardment of identified
hideouts of bandits along Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna road, Kaduna international
airport general area, particularly Sabon-Birni and Maidaro, as well as
Birnin-Gwari-Funtua road and Kamuku Forest.
The group added: “We’re not safe. If
care is not taking, peasant farmers in our community will not be able to farm
this season due to the presence of bandits around their farmland. Deployment of
additional security personnel to Birnin-Gwari without aerial bombardment of
bandit hideouts and synergy with local vigilantes will be an exercise in
futility.”
Mukhtar said the Inspector-General
of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, in company of the Commissioner of Police,
Austin Iwar, has been to the area.
Mukhtar said: “Their intervention
led to the opening of the two new police divisions, which have fully taken off.
The DPOs have resumed and more personnel are been posted to the area. This is
in addition to the patrols undertaken by our men on the roads and within the
whole area. There’s also the joint operation we are doing with the
military. I cannot go into the nitty-gritty of that now for security reasons."
To underscore the seriousness of the
Birnin-Gwari security situation, the minister of interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau,
the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, the IGP, Ibrahim Idris, the GOC 1
Division Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Muhammed Muhammed, the Commissioner of Police
and Austin Iwar had all visited Birnin-Gwari to see the situation of things.
But the kidnappings and killings continued unabated.
Soldiers and policemen were further deployed
to the area to confront the bandits, but they returned with tails of woes, as
many of them were slaughtered.
The bandits, as of today, are supreme
in Birnin Gwari for now. How and when the Nigerian authorities will capture the
area from the stronghold of the bandits’ only time will tell. Culled from New Telegraph
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