Abuja – Zamfara State Emergency Management Agency has appealed to the military authorities to employ the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to destroy the location of gunmen allegedly from neighbouring countries terrorising the people.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Mr Sanusi Usman, who made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, commended the military for its intervention that had brought relative peace to the state.
Usman said that the Federal Government had deployed soldiers to the state after an attack by the gunmen about three months ago during which no fewer than 1,000 people were killed.
According to him, since 2012, gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons have launched a series of attacks in Zamfara, killing people, stealing millions of cows, looting property and burning down houses.
He also said that many people had also been kidnapped and children orphaned in the numerous attacks across the six local governments of Bungudu, Maradun, Zurmi, Shinkafi, Birnin Magaji and Maru.
“Zamfara is second Borno; since 2012, hardly a day passes without killing or looting and stealing of cows in almost all the local governments.
“When El-Kisara market was attacked, about 200 people were killed and cows stolen. In Bungudu, over one million cows were stolen while in Mada in Gusau Local Government and many were displaced.
“They will come to your house and after stealing what they want, will take away either your wife or children.’’
Usman noted that Zamfara, an agrarian state with the slogan “Farming is our Pride’’, could no longer engage in meaningful agriculture due the state of insecurity.
“It is no longer possible for farmers to farm outside the town. Even if you farm, you will never benefit from the harvest because the attackers will come during harvest and carry everything away.’’
Furthermore, he said that the Fulani herdsmen in the state had been forced to migrate to other areas due to the massive stealing of their animals.
He said that communities had had to negotiate with the terrorists in order to remain alive, since the security agencies in the state were unable to march their fire power.
“The gunmen will sometimes demand N2 million to N3 million within three days from a community and the affected people will have to gather the money and give them so that they can be safe.
“Our security agencies cannot attack them because they have more sophisticated weapons. The Policemen have to work under camouflage without their ID. Many times they have killed policemen,’’ Usman said.
He said that the activities of the terrorists often create huge emergency situations for the SEMA and appealed to both the state and federal governments to employ modern technology to locate their positions and destroy them.
This, he said, was the only way to improve the security situation in the state, restore the confidence of the people and encourage them to resume farming activities.