Many travellers were Wednesday killed by a bomb explosion planted by armed bandits around Mai Lamba area along Dansadau-Gusau major road of Maru local government area of Zamfara state.
Specifically, the incident occurred at about 8.00a.m. at Gadar Mailamba (Mailamba Bridge) in Tashar Sahabi.
A resident of the area, who pleaded anonymity, said in a telephone interview with Blueprint that the driver of a Golf car with 10 passengers on board stepped on the bomb while on their way from Gusau to Magami town, killing all the passengers.
He said: “As I am talking to you now, all the passengers were burnt to death beyond recognition and their flesh scattered.
“This is coming two days after the first incident in which these dreaded terrorists planted bomb along the same road which caused the death of a truck driver beyond recognition.”
He urged the federal and state governments to come to the rescue of community in the area as quickly as possible, noting that Magami, Dansadau communities are in serious threats by bandits for the past six years.
“We are in critical situation as these dreaded terrorists have taken over our area for the past six years with the authorities not taking all the necessary measures to protect us, and we are calling on federal government and Zamfara state government to look into our situation by deploying more troops to the area to fight these dreaded terrorists, ” he added.
A resident, Nuhu Babangida, said security agents and members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) were in Tashar Sahabi working to recover the bodies as he spoke with Premium Times reporter Wednesday afternoon.
An explosive planted by bandits had similarly blown off another bridge in the area on Sunday after an attack by the outlaws was repelled in Unguwar Galadima in the same local government area.
Residents said the bandits were attacking communities around Dansadau emirate to avenge the killing of their leader, Sani Black, in September by local vigilantes.
Mr Black was one of the pioneers of terrorism in Zamfara and a protégé of the late Tsoho Buhari. He was also a close ally of the late Halilu Sububu, who was also killed in an ambush on 13 September.
The scene of the latest explosion, Tashar Sahabi, is about 28 kilometres from Dansadau town.
The police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazeed Abubakar, said he was awaiting a briefing on the development when Premium Times reporter called him on the phone for his comments.
…Councillor, 8 others abducted in Kogi
Meanwhile, gunmen abducted nine persons, including a councillor, at the Odo-Ape community in the Kabba-Bunu local government area of Kogi state.
The abduction, which sources said occurred early Wednesday morning, came about a week after three persons, including an eight-year-old boy, were abducted from the same community.
A newly elected councillor representing the Odo-Ape Ward in the Kabba-Bunu Legislative Council was among those abducted. The victims, nine in all, were reportedly picked from their various sources.
Blueprint gathered that the hoodlums struck at about 1.00am on the fateful day, shooting sporadically to scare off possible intervention before going away with their captives.
“We are in serious fear in Odo-Ape because we don’t’ know who the next victim is. Just about a week ago, three persons were kidnapped. Must we continue this way? An eight-year-old boy was one of the victims,” the source added.
The community called on the security agencies to come to their rescue, saying “we are at the mercies of these gunmen who arbitrarily come to take us away.”
The Kogi state Police Command was yet to comment on the development as at the time of going to the press.
