Bandits kill 36 gold miners in Zamfara

Alhaji Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara State

Adelani Adepegba, Abuja

Bandits have killed about 36 illegal gold miners in Bindim Village, in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The attackers reportedly attacked and killed the miners on Monday night, while they were prospecting for gold in the area.

The gunmen were said to have carted away most of the gold, after killing those they found in the mining site.

The Zamfara State Police Command confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Tuesday, saying that investigation had commenced into the dastardly act.

The command’s spokesman, Mohammed Shehu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, explained that scores of miners were murdered by bandits terrorising the area.

He however declined to give the specific number of those killed, simply stating that the number was high, adding that the casualty figure would be released after investigations.

Shehu said that armed policemen and soldiers had been deployed in communities around the crime scene, to forestall a recurrence.

He said, “On Monday night, a gang of armed men suspected to be bandits attacked Bindim village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State; they attacked some miners who were working in an illegal gold mine in that area. As a result, a number of miners were killed.

“A serious investigation has commenced, but I can’t give the exact number of the dead or injured, but urgent investigation has commenced. It is after the investigation we would know the number of those affected. Regular patrols by policemen and soldiers are ongoing in the area.”

Shehu said no arrest had been made in connection with the bloody attack on the miners.

In a related development, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has said that the police will involve trained sniffer dogs in checking crime and criminality in the country, noting that the animals would soon be deployed in rural areas and flash points of crisis.

He stated that the dogs and their handlers would also be dispatched to areas with high rate of cattle rustling to arrest the problem and prevent herdsmen and farmers’ clashes.

The IG, said this on Tuesday, during the passing-out ceremony of 19 Nigeria Air Force personnel from the Police Dog Breeding Training Centre, Dei-Dei, Abuja, and the inauguration of three air-conditioned dog trailers.

Idris, who was represented by the Deputy Inspector-General, Operations, Joshak Habila, stated that a trained dog could do the job of 20 personnel, stressing that the sniffer dogs were indispensable to the nation’s security architecture.

The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Force Animal Branch, Charles Ugomuoh, in his remarks, said four officers and 15 other ranks were trained  for three months in the patrol dog handlers course as a background for the establishment of the NAF K9 unit.