Bandits Invite 50 Zamfara Elders to ‘Peace Meeting’ in Forest and Kidnap Them; Slap ₦125 Million Ransom on Unsanctioned Negotiators

The delicate security architecture of Zamfara State has suffered a severe tactical blow after an armed terrorist syndicate turned a local peace initiative into a mass hostage trap, abducting dozens of community elders who had ventured deep into a forest enclave to broker a ceasefire.

The shocking incident unfolded on Sunday, June 7, 2026, inside the dense thickets of the Fadama and Muntsira Forest networks within the Maradun Local Government Area. Seeking an end to months of crushing economic blockades, a delegation of between 45 and 50 community representatives and elders from Magamin Diddi village and four surrounding communities organized a direct dialogue manual with a notorious regional bandit kingpin popularly known as Jammo (also identified in intelligence logs as Jimo Smally). However, as soon as the assembly commenced, armed herdsmen swarmed the venue, placing the entire peace delegation under an immediate, hostile lockdown.

The roots of the ambush trace back to an ongoing, bitter dispute between the agrarian community and Jammo’s terror network. Barely a year ago, local residents had successfully repelled a bandit raid, capturing several criminal operatives and confiscating their assault rifles a development that prompted the syndicate to completely block access to local farmlands and weekly markets ahead of the critical 2026 wet farming season. Desperate to feed their families, the elders sought out the peace brief to ease the movement restrictions. Upon entering the forest trenches, Kingpin Jammo demanded the immediate restitution of the seized firearms or an equivalent cash payout. When the elders explained they could not produce either, the bandit leader ordered his fighters to drag them deeper into the wilderness.

The State Police Command and local administrative cabinets have moved quickly to frame the disaster as a tragic consequence of violating state security directives.

“We are dealing with a deeply unfortunate situation that could have been entirely avoided if statutory channels were respected,” stated the Chairman of Maradun Local Government Area, Hon. Bello Sanusi Dosara, in an exclusive media reaction. “As the chief security officer of this local government, I can confirm that nobody informed my office or the security agencies about this forest meeting. They knew very well that the Zamfara State Government, under the leadership of Governor Dauda Lawal, maintains an unyielding, hard-line defensive shield that completely bars any form of negotiation with bandits. We provide regular security escorts for market transits, but stepping into a terrorist camp without authorization is an extreme risk.”

Confirming the mass abduction, the Zamfara State Police Command, through its spokesperson, DSP Yazid Abubakar, stated that official field reports from the Maradun Division indicate that at least 39 elders remain trapped inside the bandit trenches. To facilitate their extortion script, the terrorists released between 6 and 12 of the oldest participants, sending them back to Magamin Diddi as messengers to convey a staggering ₦125 million ransom demand to the traumatized community.

The development has triggered deep panic across the Maradun axis, with youth leaders pointing out that the mass capture of the village leadership leaves the communities entirely vulnerable to further exploitation.

As the state’s military high command and police tactical squads deploy aerial surveillance assets and intelligence teams to locate Jammo’s operational base, the state government has issued a stern advisory manual to all rural communities, reiterating that treating with bandits only fuels the thriving ransom economy and warning that regular forces will maintain an aggressive kinetic squeeze to rescue the hostages without validating the syndicate’s financial blackmails.