Bandits impose N20m levy on Katsina community, residents ordered to leave

Barely 24 hours after the death of retired Major General Rabe Abubakar in bandit captivity, another armed group has reportedly invaded Kwandawa Community in Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State and imposed a N20 million levy on residents. The gunmen gave them an ultimatum — pay or vacate your ancestral homes permanently.

A resident, Ibrahim Tukuri, told BusinessDay that the attackers went house to house on Saturday night, looting valuables, household property and even bridal gifts belonging to newly married women. The bandits claimed the levy was linked to the killing of one of their members during an earlier confrontation with the local vigilance group. Tukuri said the attackers warned that if the community fails to pay N20 million, everybody should be ready to leave and nobody would be allowed to remain there.

This is the same state where a retired Major General was killed in captivity just days ago. The same government that keeps telling us security is improving. Now farming communities are being forced to pay before they can cultivate their own land. How many more villages must empty before we admit that this is no longer banditry but organised occupation?