By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Not less than 500 people have been reportedly kidnapped as terrorists invaded about 50 communities in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

According to reports, the bandits also killed five persons including two police personnel in the process on Monday.

While confirming the incident, a member of the House of Representatives from the state, Bello Hassan Shinkafi told journalists on Monday that several communities in his constituency had been overrun by the terrorists.

Shinkafi, who represents Zurmi/Shinkafi Federal Constituency, said the bandits now strike at will, not minding the time of the day or night; to kill, maim and abduct people, adding that this has forced survivors to scamper to safer communities elsewhere.

At Kanwa village on Saturday, the gunmen killed three people and abducted over 30 others. At Gidan Shaho in the Nasarawa area on Monday, they killed two police officers and wounded many people. We are now trying to ascertain the number of people missing following the (latest) attack,” the lawmaker said.

He said the attacks were continuing despite the efforts of the federal and state governments to check the atrocities.

“There is a need to redefine some of the approaches being deployed by the security operatives in fighting the terrorists in Zamfara,” Mr Hassan said.

The truth of the matter is that the security operatives deployed in Zamfara State are insignificant. Some of them deployed in the areas have overstayed, some for eight years, others 10 years. They have stayed longer than necessary, they need to be changed. We have reported this issue severally to those authorities concerned but without any response.”

Mr Hassan urged the security agencies to send more officers to the area and change their tactics in fighting the terrorists.

Efforts to get police confirmation of the incidents were unsuccessful, as the mobile phone of the spokesperson for the police in the state, ASP Yazid Abubakar, could not be reached.

Zurmi is the second most populous town in Zamfara after Gusau, the state capital. Lying on the border with Niger Republic and sharing boundary with Katsina State, it is one of the areas frequently attacked by terrorists in the state.

Many communities in Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger states are being attacked by different terror groups, locally called bandits.

The bandits usually ride in long convoys of motorcycles to their targets despite the presence of security personnel in the areas.(saharaReporters).