ZAMFARA GOVERNOR LIED, WE PAID BANDITS N6.6M RANSOM FOR OUR DAUGHTERS' FREEDOM– KATSINA COMMUNITY
Dan-Aji community of Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State has clarified that it paid bandits 6.6million ransom to free its abducted girls, contrary to the claim of Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.
Governor Matawalle, who said he secured the release of the 26 girls abducted by bandits, had claimed that the girls regained freedom after negotiation without the payment of any ransom, Eons Intelligence reports.
Matawalle had earlier tweeted: "I interacted with 26 rescued girls after medical professionals have ascertained their physical and mental fitness following days of trauma suffered in kidnappers den.
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"The young girls kidnapped from Katsina State were rescued on 6/11/2020 as a result of our intervention."
The victims, who are between the age of 8 and 12, were kidnapped by bandits in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State and taken to bandit camps in Zamfara State.
The Zamfara State Government delegation, led by the Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, handed over the 26 girls to Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari over the weekend after their release.
But the village head of Dan-Aji, Alhaji Lawal Dogara, told newsmen in Katsina that the community paid N6.6 million ransom to free the girls.
"The governor of Zamfara State should stop claiming credit for the release of our women because we paid for their release," Dogara said.
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He said two community leaders, Alhaji Abdulkarim Dan Aji and Liman Babangida Dan-Aji, trekked for three days into the forest to deliver the ransom to the bandits.
Dogara called on the Zamfara State Governor to desist from parading himself as the person who secured the release of the girls, insisting that the Governor has no hands in their release.
According to him, the bandits killed 15 persons, set ablaze several houses and shops during the attack.
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