Zamfara Governor, Abdulaziz Yari has revealed that 3,526 persons have died from bandits attacks in the last five years.
The governor revealed this while speaking at a town hall meeting in Gusau on Tuesday.
Mohammed Adamu, inspector general of police (IGP), was in Zamfara today were he met with traditional and community leaders, also herders and farmers to discuss the issue of insecurity in the state.
Abdullahi Shinkafi, secretary to the state government (SSG), who represented, Yari, the state governor, said that “nearly 500 villages” have been destroyed by the armed bandits.
Stating further, he said, “over 13,000 hectares of farmlands were either destroyed or made useless as farmers can no longer use the lands for farming”.
“Nearly 500 villages have also been devastated and 8,219 persons were injured, some are still in critical condition,” he said.
“The economy of the state has seriously suffered because thousands of shops were destroyed by the rampaging bandits who had displaced thousands of our people from their places of abode, many of whom cannot sleep with their two eyes closed because of fear.”
Yari also stated that the ban of mining in the state by the federal government must “be followed by enforcement, because, it is one thing to ban, and another to enforce.”