Residents of Mereri and Damba areas of Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, have cried out, lamenting that they have suffered a lot at the hands of terrorists and calling on the federal and state governments to take urgent steps to safeguard them.
Addressing newsmen in Gusau, one of the traditional leaders of Damba, Alhaji Mustapha Usman, said: “Why should both the federal and state governments abandon us to the terrorists? We don’t sleep with our two eyes closed, as the bandits are ravaging seriously in these areas.
“Damba and Mereri have become the hub of banditry and they can enter these places at will and operate anytime without any security operatives challenging them.
“A few days ago, they kidnapped a reverend father and up until now, nobody knows the whereabouts of the priest and Nigeria is jubilating that she is an independent country.
“We are facing a serious security challenge in Zamfara State but no one can solve the teething problem. This has been happening for over a decade but no one has tried to find out the roots of these problems.”
Another leader from Mereri also lamented that both the federal and state governments have abandoned them.
“We voted for governments to help us solve this insecurity situation but everyone pretends that nothing is going on in the state,” he said.
‘FG, state government abandoned us to kidnappers’ – Zamfara communities