Joy Anyim
Operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team (IRT) on Operation Puff-Adder II, Rigachikun base, Kaduna have arrested four suspects alleged to be collaborators with bandits who kidnap for ransom and rustle cattle in the state.
Related Posts
The suspects, Hassan Magaji, Abubakar Ibrahim, Auwal Abubakar and Ibrahim Kabiru, allegedly supply bandits with the information needed to strike.
They are alleged to also supply the bandits with the foodstuffs and bread needed to run their camps.
Following credible information, security operatives arrested the quartet over alleged criminal conspiracy and kidnapping on June 8, 2021.
The suspects have reportedly confessed that the bandits have camps in Galadimawa, Damari, Kidandan and Awala via Galadimawa along the Birnin Gwari and Giwa Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
According to a police source privy to the operation that led to the arrests, the suspects led the detectives to a bakery where loaves of bread are produced for the bandits, and 150 loaves were recovered.
Making a confessional statement, Magaji, a 29-year-old bakery owner from Galadimawa village, said the bandits were his biggest customers.
He claimed he made N400,000 a month from the patronage of the bandits, who pay ahead of supply, adding that the patronage was higher whenever the bandits had kidnapped victims to their camp.
Magaji said: “I am married to two wives and three children. I started the bakery business in 2018. I was an Okada rider and was always losing it to bandits who sometimes ambush us. Some time ago, one of my relatives, Mustafa Magaji, came to our area and taught me how to do a bakery.
“The little money that i saved, I used it to start the business. I started with about N21,000 and now I make N400,000 a month. The boom in my business began when I started supplying bread to bandits. I was born and brought up here in Galadimawa and I know most of our young men, who decided to become bandits.
“Initially I used to go around the area to sell bread in small quantity and luckily, I met one Mohammed from Galadimawa. The community has a good relationship with them because they do not attack us. Initially, when they started, they were raiding our villages but some of our community heads made them understand that we are not the cause of their problem. We are poor villages also struggling to survive.
“This was why they stopped attacking us and most of them started coming out to mix with the villagers. I normally stray close to that area of the forest where they stay.
“It was during one of such movements in 2019 that I met Mohammed and he bought ten loaves of bread and took my phone number. I sold the bread N200 each instead of the regular market price which was N170.
“The next day, he called me that the bread is so sweet that I should bring 20 pieces. The day I took 20 pieces and I met with three others who were with him that day. They told me that they will like to be buying in a larger quantity and I told them that I do not have enough cash.
“We agreed that they will pay the entire money before I bake. Thye started with N20,000 worth of bread and gradually increased to N50,000 a day. After removing the cost of ingredient, I make as much as N150,000 in a week.
“We have a meeting point close to their hideout, as I am not allowed to enter inside the bush. It is not even accessible by car. So, I had to stop there and share it amongst the persons that contributed the money.
“They don’t threaten me because we mind our business. They are aware that people are avoiding them; that is why they normally encourage me by paying for the bread before it is baked. I do not know about their kidnap business; I just sell bread and go.
“It was my workers that were arrested by police while on their way to deliver the bread and they brought the policemen to my bakery. I observed that whenever they kidnap plenty of people like during the kidnap of those university children, the quantity of bread that they bought increased. That period I delivered up to N70,000 worth of bread every day till recently when it dropped to N50,000 again.”
The suspect said although he did not benefit much from the bandits except that he was able to raise money to marry a new wife, he advised that the government should recruit more security men, preferably the police, to end the reign of bandits in the area.
Auwal, aged 21, also from Galadimawa, said he is married with a daughter. He claimed to be a farmer, who took up the job at the bakery to earn more money while waiting for the crops to grow.
“I started working for Magaji about three months ago. I am paid N500 and a loaf of bread every day. My job is to join and bake the bread and also sell them in the various communities.
“Most of our bread is sold to bandits. I know that they are bandits; everyone knows them. I am not afraid that they will kidnap me because we mind our business. They don’t cover their faces and we know their village. The only thing is that they now live in the forest.
“They do not have families, it’s only some of their commanders that are married with children. I do not know that it is a crime to sell the market. I am only selling my market and nothing else. I am aware that they are kidnaping people up and down but since I did not participate, there is no need to worry. It was at the police station that they told me that I am encouraging them by giving them food.
“The only way out is for government to give them what they want. They are so many in the bush and the more you kill them, the more they recruit. I did not join them because of my family. My relations have warned me that one day, the army will bomb that place and I will die,” he explained.
Seventeen-year-old Ibrahim from Galadimawa said he started working for the bakery that supplies bread to the bandits to raise money to buy a motorcycle.
He said: “I dropped out of Galadimawa Primary School. My parents are farmers and they made me to join them on the farm instead of sending me to school.
“I have been saving money to buy a motorcycle but it’s never enough. Luckily I got a job at Magaji Local Bakery about a year ago. I am paid N500 and a loaf of bread. Sometimes, I will sell the bread instead of eating it.
“Part of my job is to sell it in the neighbouring communities every day. Those bandits are our best customers. Instead of trekking around, begging people to buy bread, we will just deliver everything to them and go home.
“I am not a bandit because if I try it my father will hunt me down and hand me over to the police. He has warned me that those bandits used to kill innocent people, which is wrong. I know a lot of them who have since relocated into the forest, they only come out when they have money to look for girls and visit their families.”
The Nigerian Xpress reports that efforts are on to arrest the bandits, who are alleged to have been terrorising residents of Zaria and environs.
Quote
The only way out is for government to give them what they want. They are so many in the bush and the more you kill them, the more they recruit. I did not join them because of my family. My relations have warned me that one day, the army will bomb that place and I will die.
