Approximately eight communities in Niger state’s Shriroro local government area have reportedly submitted to the leadership of famed bandits warlord Dogo Gide and opted to pledge their loyalty and allegiance to the gang.
Only two weeks ago, a bandit group led by Dogo Gide claimed responsibility for shooting down a military helicopter on an evacuation mission in Kusasu Village, Shriroro local government region.
Kusasu, Kwaki, Chukuba, Gulana, Apai, Nakuna, Yanka, and Kurebe are among the communities that have purportedly pledged devotion to Gide and his organization, where the bandits’ leader has supposedly operated with impunity for years.
According to the Daily Sun, over 1,000 residents of these communities contributed food last week to join the warlord in celebrating the successful shooting down of the helicopter with no major reaction from the authorities and have equally submitted to his leadership, adding that “they now address him as Governor.”
According to sources, the people’s decision to choose Gide as their leader was influenced by the fact that, despite the killing of the troops and the shooting down of the helicopter by the bandits, the Nigerian authorities have taken no significant action against the bandits.
According to the source, the only option for the villages to survive is for them to submit to the gang, “because it appears that there is nothing anybody can do about the situation.”
“As I speak with you, the people are planning to give a title and made Dogo Gede their king in these communities. At the moment, they refer to him as their governor because since the Bandits have been operating in the area for the past eight years and killing the people, no governor of the state or any political leader has visited them.
“These people have lost hope in their leaders, and they believe that nobody can rescue them from the hands of these Bandits and restore peace in these communities. So you don’t blame them for pledging loyalty and allegiance to the warlord and his group if that is the only way they can have peace and embark on their farm business”, the source added.
According to the Daily Sun, several members of these communities have offered to act as liaisons between the people and the Dogo Gide-led organization in order to facilitate dialogue and foster a cordial relationship.
According to a source in the Nakuna community, one Mallam Yohanna, who has been arrested on suspicion of being an informant to the Bandits by special hunters operating in the area, is now serving as the intermediary between the Bandits and his community, while in the Apai community, a man popularly known as Alhaji is the intermediary between the Bandits and his community.
