By Our Reporter, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026
MARU, ZAMFARA STATE — Bandits have reportedly invaded Farin Ruwa community in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, setting piles of harvested rice on fire and abducting five residents in a fresh wave of terror targeting farming communities.
Local sources confirmed that the armed bandits stormed the farming settlement, enforcing levies on local farmers before allowing them access to their crops. Those who failed to comply faced violent reprisals, leading to destroyed farm produce and casualties.
Among those killed in recent encounters was Saminu Adamu, who was murdered by his captors despite his family paying a ransom for his release. The bandits also torched his harvested crops, destroying his family’s primary source of livelihood.
The five residents currently held captive in the forest have been identified as Abdulrahman Shehu, Mansur Muhammad, Idi Muhammad, Abdullahi Sani, and Sani Usman.
The latest incident has thrown Farin Ruwa and neighboring communities into pervasive fear, forcing scores of farmers to abandon their unharvested fields at the peak of the farming season.
Desperate residents have issued an urgent appeal to both the Zamfara State Government and federal security agencies to intervene, secure the release of the abducted captives, and deploy security personnel to protect their lives and farmlands.
The attack on Farin Ruwa highlights a growing and dangerous trend across Zamfara State and parts of Nigeria’s North-West region, where armed bandit groups increasingly target the agricultural sector.
Over the past few years, criminal gangs operating from vast forest reserves have systematically extorted rural communities by demanding millions of naira in “harvest levies” or “protection taxes.” Farmers who refuse or are unable to pay these illegal tolls face farm blockades, abduction, or execution, while their crops are systematically set ablaze.
Zamfara State remains one of the hardest-hit epicenters of agricultural banditry in Northern Nigeria. Despite ongoing military operations and security measures deployed across the North-West zone, agrarian communities continue to suffer severe disruptions.
The ongoing destruction of staple crops like rice, sorghum, and maize during harvest seasons further escalates food inflation and heightens the risk of acute food insecurity across the country.
