Some bandits in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State were said to have reportedly started demanding cooked food as ransom for kidnapped victims.
This comes after the ban on weekly trading in markets as part of the efforts initiated by the state government to tackle insecurity in the state.
According to the government, attacks on communities have reduced since the ban.
A youth leader in one of the villages of Birnin Gwari, Babangida Yaro, told Daily Trust that since the ban, bandits operating in and around Damari, Kutemashi and Kuyello villages only ask for cooked food each time they abduct people.
He added that the ban on the sale of fuel in filling stations located in rural communities has also helped to restrict the movement of bandits.
“There is relative peace around Damari, Kuyello, and Kutemashi because the bandits have stopped attacking our communities. They usually stay in the forest and seize food items mostly cooked ones from vendors,” he said.
It was learnt that when they recently abducted some persons on a farm, one of them was allowed to go get food from their relatives as ransom since there was no communication network to enable them to reach their families.
The youth leader added that the Dogon Dawa area is still not completely safe because villagers are still scared of accessing their farmlands.
He lamented that the ban on the use of private motorcycles in the villages has made life harder for bandits as well as residents.
