The Zamfara State Government has again closed more markets, especially those along the major roads for security reasons, saying it is inching closer to paralyzing the bandits’ nefarious activities.
The state Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, said the government would continue to put in place stiffer security measures for restoration of peace and harmony in the state.
“Enough of all these merciless killings and kidnappings in the state. The government cannot fold its hands and watch the bandits killing and kidnapping innocent citizens. Enough is enough,” he lamented.
Hon. Dosara further said that the state government has discovered that the bandits live in the forests, from where they attack communities depending on some lawless community members, whom they pay to give them information on how to carry out their dastard acts.
The commissioner explained that when the informants sighted some business people who came for their legitimate endeavours, they would quickly alert the bandits, describing their dressing and giving more information, pointing out that the bandits would quickly storm the markets and unleash terror attacks.
He vowed that the markets would not be reopened until peace is finally restored in the state, saying that the government would ensure that the bandits are brought to justice.
At the garage Mailena market near Gusau dam, it was discovered that all the marketers have deserted the market and many armed mobile policemen and soldiers have taken over the whole area controlling the traffic.
The residents have vacated the area but were put under surveillance, with the area as quiet as a graveyard.
Some of the residents, who spoke to newsmen, said that the closure of the market was seriously affecting their economic lives, noting that they feed themselves and their families from the legitimate businesses they do in the market.
“The fact remains that we don’t have any other means of feeding ourselves and our families due to the sudden closure of the market,” one of them lamented.
Also in Lalan junction, leading to Katsina, Zaria and other places, the roadside market was closed down due to the security challenges, with armed mobile policemen and soldiers in their large numbers patrolling the area.
Awka, Onitsha, others shut down as Anambra residents comply with IPOB’s sit-at-home order.
Also, all the shops, stalls and other business places were closed while the armed mobile policemen and soldiers engaged themselves on operation stop-and-search vehicles.
According to one Kabiru Maji, the residents of the area are in total support of the government security measures put in place, noting that though the situation was seriously affecting their businesses but that they cannot do their legitimate businesses without adequate security.
Maji appealed to the government to continue fighting the bandits seriously irrespective of any negative comments from the beneficiaries of the banditry activities.
“It is on record that Zamfara State has been a colony of banditry activities for over a decade now, a state where everyone is living in a perpetual fear,” he said.
When members of the correspondents’ chapel of the Zamfara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) visited some other affected markets, most of the residents expressed satisfaction as the state government and the security agencies seemed to be winning the war against bandits.
Recall that last Friday, the government directed all the communication service providers in the state to block all networks, stressing that nobody in the state could make or receive calls or messages.
The blockage remains as at the time of filing this report, as making or receiving calls would mean one has to travel to neighbouring states like Sokoto or Katsina.
Source: Newspot
