Gudda Turji, the leader of a local bandits’ group in Zamfara, has given a 24-hour ultimatum to residents of the Shinkafi axis of the state to flee their homes.

Turji threatened to unleash mayhem on residents of communities in the axis if they flout his orders.

Members of the communities say they are now in despair after the ultimatum.

“Hundreds of communities are now empty,” Yusuf Anka, a Zamfara resident, said on Twitter. “Bandits have taken over these areas. Brutally Nigerian Armed Forces should be supported to restore governance immediately.”

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FIJ gathered from locals that many residents have left their communities, with many abducted in some parts of the axis.

“The bandits gave us till 6 pm today to vacate our homes,” a local briefly told FIJ on the phone.

By asking residents to vacate their homes, the bandits’ leader is avenging “the arrest of his father by a rival bandit group in Kano”.

“His father has been arrested over the cattle rustled by the son from another group,” the resident said.

FIJ understands over 10 communities, including Badarawa, Maberaya, Kware, and Kurya are under the siege of the gun-wielding bandits. The organised criminal group is launching more attacks in an attempt to conquer more communities, taking advantage of the disappearance of security operatives in the axis.

Armed bandits are pillaging towns and villages, displacing more than 200, 000 people from their homes, in the under-policed northwest state.