Residents of Dansadau axis in Zamfara State have expressed palpable fear over banditry activities ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The residents lamented that they were living like refugees in their own lands, with the government unable to restore normalcy.
One of the residents, who spoke to newsmen, Mansur Dansadau said the situation had become so tough that nobody dared move out of the axis without military escorts.
“Honestly, we are in prison, suffering for the crime we did not commit and the government continues to make empty national propaganda,” he lamented.
He noted that there were some communities in the area where bandits collect levies in millions from the villagers to allow them to do their farming activities, stressing that the community members were complying for the fear of possible attack.
“Both the Federal and the State governments should stop pretending as if nothing is happening in the State, while a lot has been happening.
“The bandits are operating very freely in the State; the security operatives arrive after the dastard acts have been committed and the terrorists have finished their operations and left.
“I am very sure that in the 2023 general elections, Zamfara State will record the lowest voters’ turnout due to banditry activities ravaging the entire State,” he said.
Dansadau lamented that both the Federal and State governments were playing politics with the lives and properties of innocent citizens, saying that the governments don’t want to end banditry activities in the State for the reason best knоwn to them.
According to him, “there is no individual or group of persons that can claim to be more powerful than the government unless the government does not want to act.”
Meanwhile, most residents in Damba and neighbouring communities in Gusau Local Government Area have deserted the areas as bandits constantly unleash terror attacks, kidnapping innocent citizens and demanding millions of naira as ransom.
Some of the residents, who spoke with this medium, said they registered and obtained their PVCs in Damba axis, stressing that if the insecurity situation persists in the areas, they will not go there and risk their lives to vote.
According to one of the residents, Abubakar Umaru, “if the government wants people to come out and vote massively, the security of lives and properties should be their utmost priority.
“If bandits kill or kidnap everyone in the State, who will cast the vote for these power-drunk politicians?”