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In a statement released on Thursday, Ishaq Usman Kasai, the chairman of the Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU), revealed this information and said that the attackers had given farmers until Friday to pay N12 million in levies before they could harvest their crops.
According to him, the incident happened on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A few farming towns, including Kwaga, Kwanan-Shehu, Unguwan Liman, and Unguwan Shekarau, were told by the bandits that they must pay levies totaling N12 million ($3 million each) before they may continue harvesting their crops.
These communities are only allowing themselves until next Friday to comply with the condition; otherwise, the bandits have threatened to abduct anyone discovered on the farm. The union found that these helpless communities have started making contributions based on their farm sizes to meet the condition and the dateline,” he said.
The six people who were taken hostage at Farm Centre in Kwaga Community last Saturday were freed on Wednesday, according to the union, after the bandits took 20 mudu (bowls) of rice, 20 mudu (bowls) of beans, 25 liters of red oil, 25 liters of groundnut oil, and call cards worth N10,000.
The union added that four people from Unguwan Liman, who were kidnapped last Saturday and one resident of Unguwan Shekarau, were released on Wednesday after payment of N2.5 million ransom respectively.
In addition, the union reported that five farmers who had been abducted on September 15 in the Kurg Gabas and Sabon-Layi areas had miraculously escaped from the kidnappers' den in the early hours of last Friday after being held captive for a week.
BEPU, therefore, appealed to the Nigerian government to come to the aid of the helpless Kurgan communities in order to allow them harvest their crops without any harm or intimidation.
Calls made to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Jalige Mohammed, were not unanswered.
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