Amnesty International Nigeria has raised alarm over the tightening siege by bandits on Dansadau District in Zamfara State, urging Nigerian authorities to do more to end the rampage.
In a statement on Sunday, the organization said dozens of villages in Dansadau District have been under siege for the last 10 days, with no one allowed in or out.
“Yesterday, the bandits invaded ‘Yar Gada village and went about specifically setting vehicles on fire, while people fled in all directions,” Amnesty said.
The rights group noted that for years, residents can only travel on the Magami-Dansadau road with military escort.
According to Amnesty, residents of some affected villages claimed to have been warned ahead of attacks on the phone and asked to pay huge sums of money or risk being killed or abducted.
“This is Nigeria’s forgotten conflict. The authorities’ failure to protect has left villagers in Zamfara at the mercy of armed bandits, who have killed hundreds of people over the course of 10 bloody years. The crisis in Zamfara is making life hell for villagers, yet it is clearly low down on the list of government priorities,” Amnesty said.
“The Nigerian authorities have repeatedly claimed to be tackling the situation, but the mounting death toll tells a different story.”
