INSECURITY: Zamfara is a child’s play compared to Taraba, group laments

A Taraba State group, Jukun Development Association of Nigeria, has said that the insecurity going on in Zamfara is not comparable to that of Taraba.

The group, which lamented that not much is said in the media about the spate of armed robbery and kidnappings going on in the state, blamed the current situation on the state government’s inaction and impunity.
The National President of the association, Bako Benjamin stated this in Lagos on Sunday, when he led a delegation of the group to visit Lagos Lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN.

Benjamin, who said Takum Local Government Area of the state is the worst hit, expressed the fear that Takum stood the risk of becoming a ghost town in the next one or two years, if nothing was done to stop the attacks, as residents are leaving their homes in droves.
According to Benjamin, a petrol station owner in Takum, one Alhaji Mayo, was still in the kidnappers’ den as of Sunday, despite payment of N5m ransom and the delivery of all his cars to his abductors.

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He equally mentioned the case of a Takum hotelier, Ahmadu Emmanuel, who was shot dead in his house two weeks ago because he resisted an attempt to kidnap him and the case of a medical doctor, Uncle Sule Audu, who his abductors refused to let go after collecting N10m ransom.

Speaking further, Benjamin said: “The daughter of the victim, who is a medical doctor, just collapsed and as we speak now, she is in a coma in the hospital.

“There is a lawyer, Yabura Leina, who was abducted, and after payment of ransom, they refused to release him and as we speak he is still in captivity.

“As we speak now, there are more than 148 Jukun in the captivity of kidnappers, and we are not talking about members of other ethnic groups living in the community that have been kidnapped.

“Commercial activities have grounded to a halt throughout Southern Taraba and we keep hearing only of Zamfara and other places. Sincerely, we are in more trouble than all these other areas and we are appealing to the press to come to our aid, otherwise, in another one or two years’ time, that place will be a complete ghost town.”

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