According to Zubair Abdurra’uf, a senior councillor of the Birnin Gwari Emirate, the Ansaru terrorist group has established a new government within the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State and is now taxing the area’s vulnerable citizens.
“We have a government within the government,” Abdurra’uf lamented on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday.
“There are some areas within Birnin Gwari, particularly the eastern part, whereby the Ansaru (group) administer this territory because they give directives to the citizens who are there and they decide what to be done,” he said.
LATEST: IPOB Replies Ansaru Over Allegation Of Been Behind Killings In South East
He claims that a known Boko Haram terrorist group offshoot entered Birnin Gwari more than 12 years ago pretending to teach the locals about Islam before converting to terrorists who detested western education.
“Most of the schools in the area are deserted because they issued a decree that nobody should go to any school or have any form of formal education,” he said.
Abdurra’uf claimed that since the militants ousted the local chiefs and established their control, government institutions had abandoned Birnin Gwari, a wide region with tough terrain, mountainous areas, and an adjacent forest to Zamfara and neighboring states.
“At times, the locals have no option but to take some of their issues to these terrorists for adjudication because of the absence of some of the institutions of government that will normally take care of these issues,” the traditional councillor said.
“The ideological conviction of Ansaru is not different from Boko Haram because the Ansaru are a splinter group of Boko Haram and whatever you see Ansaru do is in consonance with whatever Boko Haram are doing but only that the modus operandi of the two groups differ.”
IPOB Responsible For Killing Of Muslims In South East – Ansaru Terrorists
The authorities have previously raised the alarm about terrorist supremacy in Birnin-Gwari.
Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, claimed in May that Boko Haram and the Ansaru terrorist group were occupying the state’s Birnin-Gwari and Giwa local government districts.
The traditional councillor asserted that the Almajiri system is not to blame for the entry of terrorists into the region, but rather for a lack of coordination to prevent the spread of the “foreign ideology” of the Ansaru people.
According to Abdurra’uf, the locals now view the terrorist Ansaru group as a “messiah” who will defend them against robbers who steal their crops and rustle their cows.
“They have their cattle confiscated, their farms, they have to pay all sorts of levies to the terrorists. They pay for the harvest. For every ten bags, they give two bags to all these bandits while they take eight away.
“So, when the Ansaru offers help to these people, they take it because they don’t have the means to protect themselves. They have seen Ansaru as messiah that will eliminate these people (marauders) who capitalise on their inadequacy and lack of protection which is the primary responsibility of the government,” he said.
APC Muslim/Muslim Ticket: Dikwa Warns El-Rufai, Others Over Move To Divide Nigeria
He added that young people join Ansaru due to poverty and the government’s negligence, and that the Ansaru group donates food to villagers during celebrations.
Abdurra’uf questioned if the 2023 elections could be place in the area, claiming that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot send workers to the terrorist stronghold in Birnin Gwari.
If elected president in 2023, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) promised to eradicate bandits and terrorists in Kaduna and other areas of the northern region during a visit to Zubairu Maigwari, the emir of Birnin Gwari, on Monday.
However, Abdurra’uf warned against the politicisation of the security challenges of the area and other parts of the north.
“Bad governance increases the issue of insecurity,” he stated, noting that politicians should not capitalize on insecurity to get votes during elections but look away after they get elected.
Despite the numerous terrorist strikes in the region, he claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari has no sympathy for the locals. The official encouraged the government to fulfill its fundamental duty of defending people’s lives and property.
One of the seven states in the North-West geopolitical zone, Kaduna, has seen an increase in terrorist and bandit attacks over the past two years. Notable examples include the infamous infiltration of the Nigerian Defense Academy on August 24, 2021, and the heinous attack on a train on March 28, 2022.
Bandits Now Beg For Food In Exchange For Kidnapped Victim
According to the Kaduna State Government, over 3,000 locals, students, and travelers were abducted in 2021, while 1,192 people were killed by bandits and other violent groups. According to government statistics, between January and September 2022, more than 800 people have been slain by bandits and more than 1,200 people have been abducted in Kaduna.
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.