…as the rich also cry
…Nigerians had to pay levies to bandits before accessing their farms
…hunger, frustrations, banditry walk naked
The year 2021 is one year Nigerians will never be in a hurry to forget as banditry, kidnappings reigned supreme from January through December.
TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) in this concise analysis x-rayed how banditry and kidnappings reigned throughout 2021 despite the huge amount being expended on insecurity.
Initially, Nigerians thought banditry was an exclusive reserve for the northern part, but as at today it has pervaded the six geo-political zones of the entity known as Nigeria.
It has become a daily occurrence that Nigerians no longer see it as any big deal because it’s just another news item if a prominent Nigerian or the downtrodden is either killed or kidnapped.
The rich also shed tears as nobody, the wealthy, the poor, the poorest of the poor across Nigeria are all crying.
But the year 2021 climaxed all the years of crying as there seems to be no succour as Nigerians stare daily at the skies begging God to send His angelic forces to help us combat banditry.
Traditional rulers are not spared, children are kidnapped and kept in the forest to eat groundnut cakes for several weeks until parents borrow money to pay ransom as exemplified in Niger State.
Even at the eclipsing days of 2021, a prominent Nigerian traditional ruler in Plateau was kidnapped on Boxing Day and guess the price tag to get him released? Half a billion naira was what the kidnappers demanded for his ransom. This is probably the budget of some states in Nigeria in the 1980s when the naira had value.
Banditry, kidnappings now attract monies that some companies considered to be successful can’t even realise as turnover at the end of the year.
It’s now a lucrative business that curbing it might require more than exchanging bullets with these dare devil bandits as they can’t earn that from the system but through the barrel of the gun they could earn what companies do not earn in one full year.
So asking them to drop the gun for peanuts as salaries may just amount to a waste of time as there can never be a repentant bandit.
The shocker of it all is when bandits now levy communities and even give such communities deadline to pay up or face massive invasions is alarming.
To access their farmlands they have to pay and they are instructed to only attend to their crops on given days of the week.
A glaring case is that of the seven Zamfara communities ordered by bandits to pay a levy of N32million which was well shared by the bandits among the communities.
Last Monday was the deadline and only God knows whether the seven Zamfara communities paid the levy.
In Sokoto, a neighbouring state to Zamfara it was alleged that some 43 communities had already paid their levies to live peacefully or face death penalty.
See trending list of communities that allegedly paid the levies:
Sabon Birni Communities that have already paid their levies to bandits.
The communities that have paid the levies imposed on them by bandits as at Sunday October 7, 2021 are:
1- Garin Idi 1 Million Naira
2- Rambaɗawa 500,000 Naira
3- Tudun Wanda 370,000 Naira
4- Nasarawa 600,000 Naira
5- Zangon Ga Itace 300,000 Naira
6- Makuwana 1Million Naira
7- Tsauna 200,000 Naira
8- Tagirke 600,000 Naira (First payment) 800,000 (Second payment) 700,000 (Third payment)
9- Allakiru 3.5 Million Naira (Paid 2.9 million, to pay 600,000 balance)
10- Dogon Marke 2.2 Million Naira
11- Dakwaro 100,000 Naira
12- Kwarangaba 3 Million Naira
13- Adarawa 300,000 Naira (First payment) 1.5 Million Naira (Second payment)
14- Atallawa 400, 000 Naira (First payment), 400,000 Naira (Second payment)
15- Ƙiratawa 500,000 Naira (First payment), 600,000 Naira (Second payment), 1 Million Naira as levy for the release of their Chief Imam
16- Hawan Diran 80,000 Naira
17- Kuka – 100,000 Naira
18- Kwatsal 2 Million Naira (First Payment), 2 Million Naira (Second payment)
19- Dukkuma – 1.7 Million Naira (First payment) 400,000 Naira (Second payment)
20- Takaki – 600,000 Naira
21- Dabagi 100,000 Naira
22- Dan Maliki – 400,000 Naira
23- Ɓore – 2 Million Naira
24- Mallamawa 1 Million Naira
25- Kimba -350,000 Naira (First payment), 1.5 Million Naira (Second payment)
26- Katsira 1.5 Million Naira
27- Masawa 5 Million Naira (Payment not yet confirmed)
28- Faru 4 Million Naira
29- Sha Dawa (Farming for bandits by Villagers)
30- Gidan Gyara – (Farming for bandits by Villagers)
31- Dungurum 500,000 Naira
32- Gamuzo 1 Million Naira
33- Jinjira- 4 Million Naira
34- Walkiya Sabuwa 1 Million Naira
35- Walkiya Tsohuwa 300,000 Naira
36- Kitamau 600,000 Naira
37- Gangara Levied individually and as Community after initial payment of 1.5 Million Naira by the community
38- Kaihin Aska – Each Man 1,500 Naira, each woman 1,000 Naira (After the community had paid 1 Million Naira)
39) Garki 4 Million Naira
40- Ahifara 1.5 Million Naira
41- Dan Aduwa 1.5 Million Naira
42- Zangon Abamu 2 Million Naira
43- Gatawa 5 Million Naira as Second payment.
The situation has gotten to this alarming level in 2021 the year bandits now impose levies on communities to live in their own country.
2021 is indeed a terrible year that no Nigerian in his right senses will reason it twice to expect another 2021 in 2022.