EXCLUSIVE: Names of Villages, Exact Figures… How Sokoto Villages Paid N67m in Taxes to Bandits In One Week Heavily-armed men emerged from the forest on motorbikes in Sokoto East. Their mission this time was not to spray bullets on innocent villagers; they were to dispatch letters to village heads in Sabon Birnin, giving them a seven-day ultimatum to pay their new levies for safety.
A few days earlier, the bloodsucking criminal gang had unleashed terror on the communities, killing not less than 40 at a weekly market. The attack posed a threat to residents of the enclaves, who are now directly governed by bandits.
PAY THE TAXES OR DIE
Armed bandits riding in a convoy of about 200 motorcycles raided the Unguwar Lalleh market in Sokoto East, killing not less than 40 people. October 11, 2021.
By imposing taxes on these communities, the terror group, led by Bello Turji, a notorious bandit leader, is raising millions of naira to build an arsenal of heavy weaponry to unleash more mayhem.
Turji fled Zamfara, a neighbouring state, after military offensives against him and his cohorts. He has since built a new empire in Sokoto forest and procured more ammunition, according to confidential interviews with sources familiar with his movements.
“If we don’t pay the taxes, they’ll kill our people,” a community leader in Sokoto told FIJ. “There is nothing we can do since the government has shown that they can’t help us.”
TOILING TO FILL TERRORISTS’ POCKETS
Dreaded terror kingpin Bello Turji wearing a black shaw amid his heavily armed cohorts
Since the levies were imposed in October, residents of the affected communities have had sleepless nights rallying around to raise the funds. Over 40 under-policed villages in Sabon Birnin have had to pay over N67 million to fill bandits’ pockets.
Lai Muhammed, the Minister for Information and Culture, decried the development, saying violent extremists collecting taxes from citizens across the northern parts of Nigeria are not different from street thugs extorting cash from citizens in the southern parts of the country.
BANDITS INSTALLING DISTRICT HEADS AFTER CAPTURING VILLAGES
Meanwhile, northwest bandits are capturing villages misgoverned by state and federal authorities. On Sunday, news from Sokoto was dominated by accounts of villagers lamenting how bandits imposed new district heads on them after capturing their villages.
“Some of the communities paid N1.5 million each while others paid up to N2 million or even N4 million across three wards,” a local in one of the villages told FIJ after his village paid to bandits. “Everyone in the village was asked to pay N5,000. Everybody paid. I also paid. It was compulsory payment.”
A youth leader in one of the terrorised villages said complying with bandits’ directives was the only way their safety could be ensured. He said recent events in the communities had discouraged him to convince his people to vote for any politicians in subsequent elections.
“Recently, we made some payments,” he said. “We paid the money not because we so wished, but because we didn’t have any other option. I observed that some villages had paid before us. Definitely, if we didn’t pay, they might attack us.”
Despite paying millions to bandits, the victimised residents are still uncertain, knowing that the ongoing ceasefire is just temporary.
After interviews with local sources, village heads, and community journalists, FIJ compiled names of villages that have paid millions of naira in taxes to bandits. Below is a list of the villages:
VILLAGES THAT PAID IMPOSED TAXES IN SABON BIRNIN AMOUNT PAID IN CASH
1- Kwatsal N3million
2- Kwarengamba N4million
3- Dakwaro N2.5million
4- Masawa N2milliom
5- Kuzari N2.5million
6- Dogon Marke N3million
7- Kuka N1.5million
8- Kaifin Aska N2million
9- Allakiru N2million
10- Gomozo N3million
11- Ayifara N1.5million
12- Dan Aduwa N1.5million
13- Garki N4million
14- Katuma N2.5million
15- Garin Idi N1million
16- Rambaɗawa N500,000
17- Tudun Wanda N370,000
18- Nasarawa N600,000
19- Zangon Ga Itace N300,000
20- Makuwana N1million
21- Tsauna N200,000
22- Tagirke N2.1million
23- Adarawa N1.8million
24- Atallawa N800,000
25- Kiratawa N2.1million
26- Hawan Diran N80,000
27- Dukkuma N2.1million
28- Takaki N600,000
29- Dubai N100,000
30- Dan Maliki N400,000
31- Bore N2million
32- Mallamawa N1million
33- Kimba N1.85million
34- Katsira N1.5million
35- Faru N4million
36- Dungurum N500,000
37- Jinjira N4million
38- Walkiya Sabuwa N1million
39- Walkiya Tsohuwa N300,000
40- Kitamau N600,000
41- Gangara N1.5million
42- Zangon Abamu N2million
TOTAL N66,620,000
NOT THE FIRST TIME
Terror kingpin Bello Turji imposing new district head on villagers of Sabon Birni, Sokoto East
In Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger, villagers had to pay bandits to not attack their homes or kidnap their children. This is intensifying a protection levy racket in the northwest and north central states. Yet, governors unable to defend these terrorised states have charged citizens to pick up weapons to protect themselves against the terrorists locally believed to be bandits.
Security experts warned that the governors’ admonition would fuel a booming business of muskets made from scrap metal. Unfortunately, procuring a locally made gun costs just N3,500 in Sokoto, according to a report by HumAngle.
Mansur Isah Buhari, a human rights activist and journalist, condemned authorities for misgoverning and allowing bandits to take over parts of Sokoto. Mansur had published a report on how terror kingpin Turji imposed district heads on some villages in the Sabon Birnin area of the state.
“In fact, there are many other villages where bandits say villagers must pay N300,000 each for not farming enough so they could return to pack from them,” he told FIJ. “And it was the bandits that prevented them from going to the farm. This is happening in this country and nobody is doing anything about it.”
When FIJ contacted Sanusi Abubakar, the Sokoto State Police spokesperson, he admitted that several places captured by bandits in Sabon Birnin are inaccessible. However, he refuted the news that villagers paid millions to bandits in taxes.
“We have our police officers and DPOs who are currently working on it; that story is not substantiated for now,” Abubakar said. “Currently, we have an operation that comprises the police, air force, and military. We are going to launch an operation in those areas and, hopefully, see the light of the day.
“Some villages are more than 100 km from Sabon Birnin, which are not even accessible. In fact, people have deserted those areas,” he added.
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