Farmers in Dan Isa district of Kaura Namoda LGA, Zamfara State, say they paid N800,000 each across 35 villages—totalling over N56 million—just to be allowed by bandits to farm this rainy season.
The Ward Head, Malam Hassan Yarima, told Daily Trust that the same amount will be paid again during harvest. He said the agreement was made with a bandit leader known as Dan Sadiya.
Despite paying, villagers say the bandits still raid their homes, steal livestock and food, and sometimes abduct women.
“We’ve given them all we have, yet they keep coming,” Yarima said. “We’re only farming so our families won’t go hungry.”
