The recent deployment of a large number of military men to Zamfara State to counter the persistent attacks by cattle rustlers on rural communities has started yielding results. Ovet 48 rustlers have been killed and over 500 cows recovered.
A couple of days ago, LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that soldiers were drafted into some forest areas across the state where the rustlers used as hideouts. Our reporter gathered that, last Thursday, the rustlers’ camps in a forest near Wanke villge in Gusau local government area was ambushed by the military.
There were also speculations that the soldiers had ambushed another camp and killed about 18 in a bush near Mayaba village, about 30 kilometres to Yargaladima village where more than 250 innocent villagers were confirmed killed by the gunmen last month.
A similar development was reported to have allegedly occurred on the same day in a forest near Anka local government area where scores of such killers were shot by the soldiers. It is however alleged that some local gold miners mistakenly lost their lives in the military operation.
In a similar operation, there were reports that about 30 insurgents were Friday morning cornered and killed by the soldiers in an ambush near Bakura town of Bakura local government area.
Although all efforts to speak with a military commander in Gusau, Major Hamma Sale, proved abortive, a reliable source close to the military confided in our correspondent that it was true that a bandits ‘camp in Bakura forest was destroyed and that 30 of their members were killed while one of their notorious leaders called Mallam Bello and two of his sons were captured along with 11 others at Dankaiwa village where many IED receptacles, exploder batteries and other dangerous weapons were captured.
The source also told LEADERSHIP Sunday that while some of the gang embers were still fleeing, a lot of them were captured in areas like Dankaiwa, Birnin Tudu and Kuzi in Bakura local government area. In the encounter, “one of our army men was killed and his body was deposited at the Bakura General Hospital, while three had fractures from gunshots and were referred to Kano Orthopaedic Hospital for treatment,’’ he said.
An eyewitness from Bakura area, Bala Lawali, told our correspondent that he saw a large number of heavily armed soldiers in trucks heading towards some forests. The state commissioner of information, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin Magaji, who was contacted on phone said since he was away from the state he was not aware of what actually happened, but he said he was aware of the arrival of the military squad.
