Zaiyanu Ibrahim, a local vigilante was in bed when terror elements invaded his village, Goronyo in Sabon Birnin, Sokoto State. He would carry his Dane gun to revolt and that was his end.
His neighbours had knocked on his door to tell him about the invasion. They (bandits) are wreaking havoc in the village square, they had told him.
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When he picked his gun to go and confront the terrorists, his family bid him farewell and wished him success, according to Birbishin Rikici, a weekly podcast produced by HumAngle.
Maryam Ibrahim, his wife, said in the podcast that she never knew her husband is bidding her farewell when he stepped out to repell the attack.
The 26-year-old widow said her husband, Ibrahim, paid the supreme price while salvaging his people from waylaying bandits who murdered about 60 persons in the village square.
Ibrahim left behind four children for Maryam to cater for. According to Maryam, her husband’s demise remains her greatest nightmare. She never imagined that life would be difficult as what she is experiencing.
“We were left to feel the burden of banditry,” she said. “Life has turn upside down for me and my children. Our town has since been devastated by the bandits but I never imagined that my husband would be killed by the terrorists.”
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Goronyo, Mailalle, Gatara, Lafinge, Bafarawa and many villages surrounding Sabon Birni in southern Sokoto have been devastated by banditry, WikkiTimes learnt. The villages have become strongholds for the bandits as government has left the places ungoverned and the people, to protection of the terrorists.
Many local vigilantes like Ibrahim wanted to defend their people, but they ended up paying the supreme price.
There are about 15 villages between Chinaka, a community in Goronyo and Sabon Birnin. But there are only two military checkpoints in the axis. Many times, the brazen bandits defied the checkpoints to raid the villages.
Five months after her husband was killed by the bandits, Nafisa Bashiru said she has not recovered from the trauma.
Her 38 years old husband, Haruna Bashiru, was among those killed in Goronyo market square.
According to Nafisa, an eyewitness said Bashiru, before his death, was warning his fellow traders to avoid the market areas, saying the criminal elements were on rampage. Unfortunately, he was killed a strayed bullet.
His brother, Bello took him to hospital where he was confirmed dead. He later buried him with leaves.
Bashiru was later given a befitting burial — a place designated for locals killed in the market square — when Bello informed other family members how he covered his body with leaves.
“Since then, life has been difficult for me and my eight children,” Nafisa said. “We were given a meager rice every month by a councilor and I also sell awara, (a local food made from soya beans) but that alone can not sustain us.”
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Aisha Umar is another woman widowed by the terrorists. Her husband was killed alongside other locals.
Aisha believes the terrorists would have spared her husband if they know his occupation.
“My husband is a health worker in Goronyo General Hospital. He was killed on his way coming back from work,” Aisha said. “He was a charitable man, nobody ever wished him to die like that. They (bandits) don’t respect humanity.”
