Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Residents of two farming communities in Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State are living through a second night of terror after a large gang of armed bandits abducted the village heads of Gidan Mai Jimina and Garangozai, imposed a levy of N5 million, and demanded a brand‑new motorcycle on pain of further violence. According to accounts gathered from local sources, the assailants first struck Gidan Mai Jimina on Sunday, April 26, 2026, abducting the village head, Malam Habibu. After the community handed over a new motorcycle and N100,000, the chief was released. The bandits then moved to the neighbouring village of Garangozai—spelled in some reports as Zarangozai—and seized its leader, Malam Sule, who remains in captivity.
By nightfall on Monday, April 27, the armed group had not retreated into the forest. Instead, intelligence from residents indicates that the bandits, carrying heavy weapons and believed to number several dozen, have taken up positions on the route connecting Gidan Tulluwa, Gangaren Rafi and Gindin Mangwarori, effectively sealing off the three villages from the outside world. “They have camped there with their guns. No one can go to the farm and no one can leave,” a resident who fled to a nearby town told journalists on condition of anonymity.
Early on Monday, the bandits sent word to the two communities that they must pay N5 million in cash and supply a brand‑new motorcycle by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28. The night letter, delivered to representatives of the two villages, warned that any resistance would be met with consequences. A source from Gidan Mai Jimina who declined to be named told newsmen: “They said if we fail, they will burn the houses and take more people.”
The abduction of a village head, his release after a small ransom, and the subsequent seizure of a second traditional leader are part of a pattern that has brought Malumfashi to a breaking point. In the past month alone, armed groups have stepped up attacks across the local government area, emptying farmlands and forcing families to abandon their homes. In the first week of April, a Monday raid on Gidan Maijimina left one resident dead, according to an investigation by Katsina Times. On Thursday of that week, bandits invaded Gidan Barau, killing another resident, rustling cattle, and stealing mobile phones. By Sunday, they had struck Gidan Hazo, looting a shop and shooting two people who were later hospitalised(5†L6-L12).
The same Katsina Times investigation, published on April 8, revealed that several villages in northern Malumfashi – including Koro, Gidan Dandaudu, Unguwar Gishiri, Gidan Maijimina, Gidan Lado and Zarangozai – have been compelled to pay protection levies totalling as much as N15 million to bandit gangs(5†L24-L27). Community leaders have long warned that the payments only embolden the attackers. “Paying money to bandits gives them more power. We need the government to intervene decisively,” an elder told the newspaper(5†L28-L30).
The two villages targeted in the latest incident are no strangers to bandit violence. In March, a day‑long gun battle raged around Garangozai and Gidan Mai Maijimina, forcing residents to suspend Friday prayers and sending hundreds fleeing into the bush(9†L4-L9). A joint military and police operation eventually dislodged the gunmen, but the bandits have since returned, apparently undeterred.
The Katsina State Police Command has not issued a formal statement on the kidnapping of Malam Sule or the latest levy. However, a security source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that patrols had been stepped up in the axis between Malumfashi and Kankara, and that a tactical team was working to track the movements of the armed group. The source could not confirm whether any arrests had been made.
The abduction of traditional leaders – often the only link between rural communities and state authorities – has become a favoured tactic of criminal gangs across the North‑West. By seizing the village head, the bandits exert control over community decision‑making, making it easier to extract money, motorcycles and food. In Gidan Mai Jimina, the release of Malam Habibu after the payment of N100,000 and the supply of a motorcycle suggests that the gang is operating in an organised, almost bureaucratic, manner: a steep levy for the second village, and a deadline that is meant to be taken seriously.
For the residents of the two communities, the immediate fear is not only the loss of their chief but the collapse of daily life. Farmers who should be preparing for the rainy season cannot reach their fields; traders who depend on the small weekly markets have stayed away; children who would ordinarily be in school are kept indoors. “We are locked in our houses. The only sound at night is gunfire,” a mother from Gidan Mai Jimina told local reporters.
The state government has not commented specifically on the levies demanded in Gidan Mai Jimina and Garangozai, but officials have previously urged calm while investigating such threats. In April, a government spokesperson suggested that letters containing levy demands might be designed to create panic(6†L25-L28). For the people living within sight of the bandits’ camps, such reassurances ring hollow.
As the 2 p.m. Tuesday deadline approaches, the two communities are caught between two impossible choices: pay a fortune they do not have, or risk an even bloodier assault. Some families have already begun a quiet exodus, packing what they can carry and heading for the relative safety of Malumfashi town.
“We have begged the government to send soldiers. We have begged the police. We have begged everyone,” a community leader from Garangozai said. “But the bandits are still there, and they are telling us how much to pay. Who is protecting us?”
The levy on Gidan Mai Jimina and Garangozai is the latest in a long list of extortion notes that have turned rural Katsina into a patchwork of occupied villages and empty fields. Unless security forces interrupt the bandits’ deadline before it expires, two more communities will be forced to choose between impoverishment and destruction.
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