Bandits have reportedly hoisted a red flag on a mountain in Zing local government area of Taraba State.
According to reports, the bandits staged a comeback in recent weeks into the area located between the boundary of Taraba and Adamawa States.
According to a resident of the area, James Samuel, the bandits once occupied the area but were chased away by combined effort of local hunters and security agents late last year. He said, The bandits occupied the area the same period of harvesting last year, but were dislodged after weeks of battle with local hunters and security agents and now they have started returning.
According to him, the locals started noticing movement of the bandits on motorcycles about nine days ago and hinted local hunters. As I am talking to you, the bandits are on top of the mountain and they even hoisted a red flag and we alerted our hunters and they have engaged the bandits in a battle, he stated.
The Taraba state chairman of Hunters Association, Adamu Dantala, corroborated Samuels stance, adding that he got the hint from residents. He further stated that hunters have been mobilised to the area.
Contacted, the Taraba State Police Command, Police Public Relations Officer, SP Usman Abdullahi, said the police had not received report of movement of suspected bandits into the State. Police has not receive such report and men of Operation Safe Taraba have been stationed at strategic points to monitor movement of suspicious persons, he stated.
Recall that there were reports last year how hundreds of bandits took over many mountain areas in Zing, Yorro and Ardo-Kola LGAs of Taraba State. It took days of combined effort of local hunters and other security agencies to dislodged the bandits.
