Armed bandits on Tuesday cut off fuel supply to Dansadau town and other neighbouring communities after they intercepted and set ablaze an oil tanker along Gusau-Dansadau road.
According to Daily Trust report, the fuel tanker was among dozens of other vehicles being escorted to Dansadau by security operatives on board an armoured personnel carrier when suddenly the armed criminals opened fire on the tanker triggering huge flames.
The owner of the tanker Alhaji Yau Muhammad Dansadau explained that the vehicle was carrying fuel from the NNPC depot in Gusau to supply a filling station in the community to address the acute fuel shortage following the closure of other filing stations.
“The whereabouts of the driver and one other person onboard the vehicle is unknown. They may be kidnapped. The fear is that there is going to be acute shortage of fuel very soon. Motorcycles, vehicles and other machines using petrol will soon stop,” he said.
“As I am told, the fuel tanker was not only the vehicle attacked, several other motorists jumped out of their vehicles and scampered to safety despite the fact that the attackers were engaged in a firefight by the police escort.
“No vehicle can ply that road without escort, dozens of people especially local traders and commercial drivers have been killed or kidnapped along that 100 km road that is in a very terrible condition.
“The attack is precisely occurring at a very dangerous spot called Mashayar Zaki just few kilometers to reach Dansadau. The armed men are lurking around the area to attack every moving vehicle,” Yau said.
Bandits have been especially active in Dansadau over past months and have
increasingly heightened attacks despite security efforts to bring them under control.
According to a former Zamfara senator Saidu Dansadau, the bandits were scaling up attacks on Dansadau community to protest the suspension of Emir Hussaini Umar, accused of involvement in banditry.
Umar was suspended in June by the state government on grounds of involvement in banditry.
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