The Deputy Chairman of Zamfara State Committee on finding solution to armed banditry, Dr. Abdullahi Shinkafi, says bandits no longer have food to feed their kidnap victims hence they release them without waiting to collect ransom money.
Shinkafi said this during an interview on Saturday in Gusau, while hailing the efforts of the State government in tackling the activities of bandits in the State.
“There are some people who were kidnapped, 11 of them. They released one and told them to bring N200, 000 each. Before they started negotiating, (they demanded) N20 million per person,” he said.
“When the relatives of the victims failed to send the money, they (bandits) were left with no option than to release them. They said they don’t have food to feed the kidnap victims, that some have started dying of hunger in captivity.
“So it is yielding a lot of results and biting them very hard. The sustainability of these security measures will help in downgrading the activities of bandits in Zamfara State.”
Shinkafi added that due to the telecommunications shutdown, bandits now wroie letters to the people of Shinkafi and the Acting Emir of Zurmi, using receipts of their purchased motorcycles to demand ransom for kidnapped victims.
He also confirmed that the task force in the state has traced the address of the motorcycle company in Kano State and arrests have been made.