Inside Zamfara communities, where residents bear brunt of reprisal attacks by bandits

On 5 October, a terror kingpin, Dankarami Gwaska, and his fighters attacked a military base and mining sites in the gold-rich Bindin ward of Dansadau Emirate in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

His fighters killed 14 soldiers and mobile police officers at the military base and looted the armoury.

The following day, the terrorist sent emissaries to Bindin, demanding financial compensation from the community for the weapons he lost after his fighters were killed in the area several days before his gang attacked the military base.

Residents confirmed that Mr Gwaska’s men were killed in Bindin, but not by the military. They were reportedly killed by rival terror groups operating in the axis.

Mr Gwaska’s forces later killed scores of miners in Bindin ward, all to avenge the killing of his fighters. He then imposed a ₦50 million “protection levy” on Bindin and neighbouring farming communities.

Residents said the terrorist extorted about N360 million in protection levies from the communities within two weeks of sacking the military base.

According to residents and security sources, the destruction of the town’s sole line of defence—the military base—has forced nearly the entire population to flee.

These sources shared videos and photos with our reporter showing locals and miners departing in heavily overloaded vehicles.

Who is Gwaska?

Mr Gwaska is a prominent bandit in Zurmi Local Government Area. He attacked the palace of the late Emir of Zurmi and is notorious for village raids, cattle rustling, and kidnapping for ransom in the Zurmi axis.

According to local sources, Mr Gwaska relocated to the Dansadau Emirate recently, under pressure from the military and rival terror leader Bello Turji. He had also reportedly escaped assassination in the neighbouring Niger Republic.

In Dansadau, he reportedly struck protection deals with the local mining operators, after ousting smaller gangs from key sites, including the major gold deposit in Bindin.

The deals compelled miners to share their revenues with the terrorist.

To maintain operational stability, Mr Gwaska entered into separate peace deals with the local communities, including Dan Kurmi, Bindin, Gobirawa Chali, and areas extending to Magami.

Residents and security sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the temporary peace attracted over 10,000 people to Dansadau to work as labourers at the illegal gold mines, and increased local business activities.

Under the protection arrangement over the past year, labourers keep a third of the gold they extract, while the operating entity takes the remaining two-thirds.

However, tension escalated after Mr Gwaska’s group reportedly raised its taxes on the labourers.

This led to clashes in which several of his fighters were killed. While rival bandit factions were suspected in the killings, Mr Gwaska blamed the labourers and the military, prompting the 15 October retaliatory attacks on the military base and mining grounds in Bindin.

The trouble area

Bindin sits at the edge of the ungoverned Kwiambana forest linking Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger states. It is one of the five wards of Dansadau Emirate. The other wards are Kwiambana, Dan-Gulbi, Dan-Kurmi and Dansadau town.

The Dansadau Emirate alone covers 492 of the 1180 square kilometres of Zamfara State territory, that is, over one third of the state’s landmass.

The area’s land is suitable for farming and livestock rearing, and is believed to have vast gold deposits.

Mr Gwaska and the other bandits operate from the Kwiambana Game Reserve, which provides natural cover from security personnel and for moving rustled cattle and abducted people.

The government created the Kwiambana Game Reserve in Zamfara to preserve wildlife. The forest stretches from the ‘Dajin Rugu’ to the Kontagora Forest.

The reserve has been slated as a possible UNESCO heritage site. For now, it is a notorious hideout for criminals.

More deadly attacks 

However, it is not only disagreement in peace deals that is behind violence in these troubled areas.

Residents narrated to PREMIUM TIMES how another terror kingpin, known as Rambo, moved to avenge his lieutenants killed by local vigilantes in the Yantasha community. The vigilantes also allegedly confiscated their firearms.

In a letter seen by this newspaper, Rambo detailed his grievances and ordered the community to return the confiscated rifles. But the vigilantes ignored the order, daring him to retrieve the weapons by force.

Recognising the community’s defensive capabilities, Rambo targeted other vulnerable areas, raiding communities such as Yar Gada, Mai Kogo, Magama, and Mai Rake, inflicting heavy casualties and causing mass displacement.

Rambo vowed to block the Magami–Dansadau highway until he received ₦50 million in damages.

To enforce this blockade, he planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs), forcing the road to be abandoned for three days until the military cleared the hazard on 9 October.

The success of the demining operation was confirmed in a statement by Aliyu Danja, an army spokesperson for Operation Fasan Yamma—the counter-banditry force in the state.

“Troops of Sector 2 have recovered and neutralised explosive devices planted by terrorists to cause major havoc to commuters along the Magami–Hannutara–Dansadau road in Maru Local Government Area.

“Acting on credible intelligence, the troops secured the affected area, conducted a thorough search, and identified two spots planted with explosive devices. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was subsequently deployed to detonate one device controlledly and safely recover and render another harmless,” Mr Danja stated.

However, a day after the military cleared the road, Rambo’s men ambushed a civilian convoy travelling from Dansadau to Gusau under military escort.

They killed several travellers and set their vehicles ablaze.

In an audio message obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, one of the terrorist leaders warned that the highway ambush would continue until the vigilantes returned the seized weapons.

“We burnt the vehicle because, while we were living peacefully with the people in the Magama and Yar Tashin Sahabi areas, vigilantes suddenly attacked, killed our people, and took our guns. This year, God willing, we are going to burn 250 vehicles unless you return those guns to us,” the bandit said in the audio message.

Efforts to obtain comments from the police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazid Abubakar, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report. Also, his colleague in the army, Mr Danja, could not be reached to comment on the developments.

Nuhu Babangida, a community leader in Dansadau and a member of the Leadway Peace Foundation for Human Rights Advocates (LPFHRA), and some community leaders spoke about the attacks with PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Babangida said many bodies were yet to be recovered at the Bindin mining site, where he said several miners were trapped and shot by the bandits.

Mr Babangida attributed the persistent attacks in the area to the activities of local vigilantes, stating that residents ultimately bear the brunt of the fallout.

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According to Mr Babangida, the escalation of violence along the route is closely tied to vigilante groups attacking bandits operating in the axis.

“The vigilantes ambush and kill the bandits even during periods of relative peace; they are fully aware that the local people—whom they claim to be protecting— end up at the receiving end of their actions,” Mr Babangida stated.

Whenever such vigilante attacks occur, bandits retaliate with raids against innocent residents along the axis, he lamented.

Mr Babangida also highlighted a political dimension to the violence, noting that such attacks tend to surge during election cycles.

“Some politicians exploit these situations to cause the cancellation of elections in areas where they are unpopular.

“In their opponents’ strongholds, they deliberately stir up insecurity so that political activities cannot take place, ultimately tipping the playing field in their favour,” Mr Babangida said.