Several miners were killed last weekend by terrorists loyal to Bello Kaura, a notorious bandit leader in Zamfara State.
Multiple local sources, including miners, informed journalists that Kaura’s group launched the attack as part of an ongoing conflict with another terrorist group led by Halilu Sububu.
Sububu controls most of the mining sites in the Bagega and Sunke areas of Anka Local Government Area in Zamfara State.
In recent years, Sububu, one of the most feared terrorists in the North-west, has turned to gold mining, seizing control of mining sites in the vast forest spanning the Anka-Maru-Tsafe areas of the state.
A Premium Times investigation revealed how Sububu employs local miners, including teenagers, to extract gold for him.
He has taken control of communities in both western and eastern Anka, offering residents protection in exchange for their support of his mining activities.
Sububu, also known as Buzu, has close ties with terrorists in Niger Republic, Mali, Libya, and Burkina Faso. He is also involved in the arms trade.
The Nigerian military has declared him wanted for terrorism. A resident of Dareta in Anka, Isa Dareta, told Premium Times via phone that the attack by Kaura and his fighters lasted for over an hour.
“The mining sites are all situated outside Dan Kamfani village, and the sites all belong to Halilu Buzu,” the source said. “On Saturday around 4 p.m., Bello Kaura led his fighters to the place looking for Halilu Sububu.”
Dareta said that upon seeing people near the pits, the terrorists began shooting.
“One of the mining pits caved in, but it was empty,” he added.
A handful of bandits loyal to Sububu, who were guarding the miners, returned fire at Kaura but were overpowered, forcing them to withdraw.
The bandits fled with their rifles, leaving behind their motorcycles and the civilian miners.
Dareta, who lives near Dan Kamfani, insisted that the attack was targeted at Sububu himself.
However, a miner who worked for Sububu at several mining sites claimed the civilian miners were the intended target.
“Halilu doesn’t live around the sites in Dan Kamfani. He has his camp around Bagega town and is living peacefully with people there,” the miner, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said.
“Bello Kaura knows that Halilu was not around and decided to use the opportunity to attack the mining sites to instil fear in the miners. He wouldn’t dare to do that when Halilu was around.”
Two additional sources, including a Fulani elder in the area, confirmed that Sububu was in Maradun Local Government Area during the attack.
“I can’t tell you how many people were killed, but we have seven dead bodies after the shooting,” Dareta said.
The miner also stated that he couldn’t confirm the exact number of casualties.
Messrs. Sububu and Kaura are sworn enemies, but this was the first time the two terrorists have engaged in direct conflict.
Sources said Sububu was the first terrorist to venture into mining in the area. He left his base in Sububu and relocated to Bagega, a business community between Anka and Maru Local Government Areas.
“When he (Mr. Sububu) started mining in Dan Kamfani, none of the terrorists in the area believed mining was worth pursuing. But when he started getting millions of naira, some of them started taking over pits far away from Halilu (Mr. Sububu),” the miner told reporters.
Kaura’s elder brother, Alhaji Shadari, himself a notorious terrorist, was invited by Sububu to cease attacking communities and join the mining activities, but he rejected the offer, according to the miner.
He said Shadari, who was later killed by the Nigerian military, continued attacking communities.
“Bello (Kaura) is angry with Halilu (Sububu) for several reasons,” the miner said. “Halilu is protecting most of the communities, especially in west and east Anka, forcing Bello to stop attacking people.”
He added that Sububu has also taken complete control of most of the mining sites, making it difficult for other terrorists to access them.
