Zamfara: Bandit Kingpin Vows To Kill 300 People After Vigilante Allegedly Killed His Bride, Others

A notorious bandit known as Nasanda, has vowed to kill 300 people in Zamfara, Northwest Nigeria over the death of his bride, her uncle and aunt whom he said were allegedly killed by some vigilante men in the state.

Nasanda who issued the threat in an audio message currently circulating in the state, gave a 14-day ultimatum to the state government to pay 30 million naira as compensation on the three deceased persons as an alternative, failure of which would lead to the killing of 300 locals.

Nasanda disclosed how his bride, her uncle, and aunt were allegedly killed by the vigilante.

He described their gruesome murder as deliberate even stating that the vigilante men knew that they were related to him.

In the audio, the bandit said he was being realistic and not greedy in asking for the N30 million compensation.

According to him, if he was greedy, he would have asked for N50 million per person.

“I am not giving months, but 14 days, for my demands to be met. And we will not attack until when people are on their farms. If our Fulani people are not allowed to live in peace, we will also not allow others to live in peace,” he said.

“If the government can’t pay the money, I will do what I am used to. That is I will take the life of 300 people to avenge the death of my bride and two of her relations. Yes, the lives of 900 will be in danger.”

Bandits unleashing mayhem on locals over the death of relatives is not new in the state.

In 2021 a bandit kingpin murdered about 100 people to avenge the death of his son.

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It was also alleged that in the same year, he masterminded the kidnapping of female students at Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talatan Mafara.

At the time of filing this report, there was no statement from the police or the state government over the threats.

But in a recent statement released by the Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Zailani Bappa, on Thursday said the state government said it was adopting a new approach and strategy in combating the menace.

The statement maintained that, “we are not going to rest on our oars and watch the situation go from bad to worse.

“The government is very concerned with the rate at which the criminals are launching a comeback, but assured that new tactics and strategy are being employed to deal with the trend.”