Local Vigilantes Shared Rustled Cows With Traditional Rulers In Zamfara – Police

policeThe local vigilante volunteer group popularly known as Yan Sakai in Zamfara State and some traditional rulers in the state shared rustled cows among themselves, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Usman Nagoggo said.

Displaying arms seized from suspected robbers and cattle rustlers yesterday in the state, Nagoggo said cattle rustling and armed banditry in the last six years in Zamfara has reached an alarming stage.

According to the deputy commissioner of police, the situation deteriorated to the extent that majority of the rural populace were no longer interested in rearing cows and other animals.

“When the situation became unbearable, the local populace decided to form what they called Yan Sakai. It is a militia group to confront the cattle rustlers. However, the group which was meant to collaborate with security agents in the area of information turned out to be the killers.

“They carried out extra judicial killings, confiscated rustled cattle and shared them with some traditional rulers. The rustlers then fought back, carrying out brutal attacks on villages where these Yan Sakai resided, thus aggravating the situation”, he said.

Nagoggo noted that the state government banned the activities of Yan Sakai and established a special committee on disarmament and amnesty in February this year.

“We achieved a lot after the committee was set up. We recovered eight AK47 rifles, one rocket launcher, three locally made revolvers and some of the bandits decided to renounce cattle rustling activities”, he added.

Earlier, the governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, said the bandits were not sincere about the issue of amnesty, a development that caused security agents to use force against them.

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