A security analyst based in Northern Nigeria has raised an alarm over the forced enslavement of villagers by a notorious bandit kingpin, Kacalla Jiji Dan Auta, in Zamfara State.
According to the security expert, Bakatsine, the affected communities include Yan Yatankari, Yar Sabaya, and Birnin Doki, all in Anka Local Government Area.
Bakatsine revealed that the bandit leader is compelling residents to work on his farmlands under threat of violence.
“The villagers are being used as farm laborers against their will,” Bakatsine said. “He [Dan Auta] assembled them and forced them to work on his farmland.
“He has even threatened that they must return next Monday to continue the work.”
He described the situation as a shift in the tactics of armed groups operating in the region, from looting and kidnapping to systematic exploitation.
“This is modern-day slavery happening in real-time, and it needs urgent intervention from security agencies and the government.
“These communities are completely vulnerable and abandoned,” he said.
Zamfara has remained a hotspot for banditry in Northern Nigeria, with many rural communities often left at the mercy of heavily armed gangs despite military operations in the area.