Armed bandits operating in rural parts of Zamfara State have imposed a criminal levy of N10 million on several villages, demanding payment under threat of violent reprisals, with at least one villager shot during a fresh attack, community sources report.
The levy regime reflects a longstanding pattern of armed extortion by bandits in northwest Nigeria that has intensified insecurity for farming communities.
Locals said the group raided the villages over the weekend, ordering chiefs to deliver the lump-sum payment for “protection” or face consequences. When one resident questioned the demand, he was shot by the assailants and sustained injuries, eyewitnesses reported. The bandits, who frequently travel in armed motorcycles and terrorise isolated settlements, are known to use brutal tactics including attack, ransom, kidnapping and illegal taxation to finance their operations.
The extortion follows similar patterns seen across the region where criminal networks have shifted from kidnapping as a primary revenue source to levying what local analysts describe as “protection taxes” on farmers and villagers — often between N2 million and N10 million per community — under threat of blocked farm access or violent reprisal.
Security officials in Zamfara have not yet issued a statement on the incident, but residents continue to call for urgent intervention by military and police units to protect communities and dismantle the finances that sustain bandit networks.
Human rights groups say the widespread practice of coercive levies by armed gangs contributes to chronic displacement, hunger and conflict in north-west Nigeria.