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Sun was shining brightly but every driver I begged for help just drove past – sole survivor of 11 traders attacked by bandits

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Abdullahi Adamu, the sole survivor in a bandit attack that left 10 traders dead in Zamfara last month, has recounted the ordeal, saying the experience will forever linger in his memory.

WuzupNigeria reports that 10 of the 11 traders travelling from Dan Iyau/Karaje village in Batagarawa Local Government Area, Katsina State, to Kasuwan Shinkafi in Zamfara State, were burnt to death by the bandits.

It was gathered that the bandits set their vehicle ablaze after robbing them of their possession.

Narrating the incident, Adamu in a The Nation report said,

“It was a Thursday at about 9 am and we were on our way to Shinkafi Market. We had passed Jibia and Gurbi. In the thick forest just before the market, we suddenly heard sporadic gunshots.

“The driver was the first to be shot and our vehicle burst into flame after colliding with an oncoming one.

“Eight of us were burnt to ashes in the vehicle after it caught fire, while the three of us managed to get out of it.

“I sat close to my brother, Awalu, who like the eight others in the vehicle did not survive. Isiyaka was raising his hand to signal to me while his two legs were already paralysed. He later died in the hospital.

“The place later became quiet after the incident. The sun was shining so bright but nobody came to our rescue.

“It was much later that vehicles started passing, but every driver I waved down for help would just move on.

“Luckily, God brought a good Samaritan riding a motorcycle, who on seeing what had happened started reciting Islamic prayers and I urged him to help us.’

“He went back and returned with a lot of people and we were taken from that place to a shade where they stopped the vehicle that took us to the hospital.

“Later, the one that lay close to me died. He was severely burnt. It was later on that our people came to the hospital and we returned home.”

Asked what he lost in the attack apart from the physical injuries, he said:

“The bandits robbed me of my N80,000, but I don’t know of others.

“Seeing my condition at the moment, you will know that I seriously need help. I have about three broken bones, and I have a wife and nine children. My late brother also has eight children and they will all be under my care.

“I go to the hospital but I am also being attended to traditionally. Medical personnel who sometimes check on me do administer drugs on me. They come from the Primary Health Care Centre here in Karaje village.

“The only help I get is from people who come to greet me and drop sums ranging from N100 to N1,000.

“There was a time the chairman of the LGA came and gave me N5,000, while those who died, their families were given N10,000 each.”

Adamu recalled that Shinkafi Market in Zamfara State had been their favourite since the days of their parents and they grew up patronising it.

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He said:

“Sometimes, if we bought the cows, we wouldn’t even enter a vehicle but treck home. That was when the land was peaceful, but this time we usually go with our car, buy and convey them back home before taking them to Caranci Market’’.

 

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