Residents of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area in Kaduna State have called for a coordinated military effort to address the escalating banditry in the region.
Through the chairman, Birnin-Gwari Emirate Development Union, Ishaq Kasai, they said that the terrorists led by Yellow the community is demanding large-scale military intervention to target forested areas where terrorists, led by the notorious bandit Yellow Jambros, have set up camps.
The residents accuse these bandits of extorting money from the locals and forcing them into oppressive agreements.
A recent incident in which 400 bags of maize, valued at millions of Naira, were destroyed by bandits in Kwaga and Unguwar Zako villages highlighted the severity of the situation, according to The Nation.
The destruction followed the community’s efforts to protect themselves from the growing violence.
Birnin Gwari shares borders with Niger, Kebbi, and Zamfara states, which have become key areas for bandit activity. The violence escalated after a failed peace deal between local communities and the bandits in the Kwaga, Zoko, and Gayam areas, which are controlled by Yellow Jambros and his gang.
For peace to be restored in Birnin Gwari and the wider northwest region, local leaders are urging military authorities to take more decisive action. They are calling for troops to be deployed to key forest areas such as Kuduru, Kamuku, Kuyanbana, and Kuzamani, which are believed to harbour numerous bandit camps. These forests have become hideouts for the criminals, who engage in kidnapping and other violent acts.
Local leaders are advocating for a coordinated, inter-state military operation involving Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara states. They argue that such operations should be simultaneous across the region, with the focus on clearing the forests where the bandits are entrenched. The current security response, they claim, is insufficient, as bandits continue to evade forces by shifting between forests in different states when military operations subside.
The western part of Birnin Gwari, which borders Niger, Kebbi, and Zamfara, remains vulnerable, with bandits moving freely and exerting control over the local population. The residents believe that only a comprehensive and coordinated military operation can effectively end the reign of terror in the area. They warn that reactive measures will not be enough to tackle the problem in the long term.
Kasai said: ‘’What happened on Sunday night is that, there is a failed peace deal between some areas around Kwoga, Zoko, and Gayam area which is being covered by one notorious bandit kingpin called Yellow Jambros and his team.
“For Birnin Gwari area and indeed the entire Northwest to have peace, military authorities should send troops to Kuduru, Kamuku, Kuyanbana, and Kuzamani forests.
“In all those areas, there are hundreds of camps of these bandits, they have been kidnapping and taking people to these forests and there is not enough security action to reach those particular flashpoints.
“Therefore, there is a need for coordinated inter-state military operations between, Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara. Let it be a simultaneous operation. Let us not just stay on the road or in particular communities.
“The bandits are permanently in the forests, they are not moving. They (bandits) tell community people that, the government can only boast but cannot come to meet them in the forests.
“Whenever there is an operation in Zamfara, you will see bandits moving freely in forests of Birnin Gwari and Niger states. But when the operation is over in Zamfara, they will move back from Niger through Birnin Gwari forests to Zamfara.
“The Western part of Birnin Gwari which shares boundary with Niger, Kebbi, and Zamfara is still porous up till today and bandits move freely and govern people in that area with impunity.
“Only a coordinated security operation will end the madness and clear these bandits once and for all. Reactive measures will never take us anywhere.
