Residents of Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State have expressed concern over the ultimatum given to them by the bandit kingpin, Bello Turji, to vacate their communities.
Turji had earlier in the week reportedly ordered residents of the local government to drain a dam in their community or face brutal consequences.
Some of the residents, who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, appealed to the state government and security agents to protect them from Turji’s attack.
A barber in the community, Abubakar Isa, described the ultimatum as worrisome, calling for immediate action.
He said, “It is very unfortunate that we are being treated like a stranger in our community. How can we imagine that bandits are now the ones giving us ultimatum on how to relate in our community,” he queried.
“We are appealing to the government to please save us from this situation we have found ourselves in. The issue of banditry has reached its peak here; we can no longer live like normal human beings in our community again, and we want peace in our community.”
Another resident of the local government, Alhaki Abdullahi Isa, said the situation had reached its peak, calling on the government to speed up intervention.
“We can no longer enjoy our stay in our community and this is very bad. It is alarming when you see someone like Turji giving us orders on how to live our lives.
“We are suffering in our land and it is unacceptable. We have nowhere to go. We cannot run away from our homes because of Bello Turji,” he said.
Efforts to speak with both the Chairman of Isa Local Government, Alhaji Sharifu Abubakar, and the Special Adviser on Security Matters to the state governor, Ahmed Usman (retd), was not successful as both calls and messages sent to them were not responded to as at the time of filling this report.
