Bandits kidnap over 100 villagers in Zamfara community for defaulting in payment of N110m levy

At least 100 members of Mutunji village in Maru local government area of Zamfara State were reportedly kidnapped yesterday after a deadline to pay N110 million levy passed.

According to a BBC Hausa report, the fine was imposed on the village by a notorious terrorist gang leader known as Damina.

Some of the villagers who survived the kidnap said the levy was imposed on them after Damina suffered losses in his camp following an air strike by the Nigerian Air Force.

On X, a security expert, Bulama Bukarti, aded: “The levy was imposed on them two weeks ago by a bandit leader named Damina. Damina’s gang had been targeted by the Nigerian Air Force two weeks prior, prompting him to demand N110 million on villages in the vicinity presumably as “compensation” for the damages caused by the attack. He has threatened to launch similar attacks on the remaining villages. The resident revealed that Damina controls over 100 villages in Maru LGA alone and extorts tens of millions every few months.”