Armed terrorists Tuesday evening attacked villages in Sabuwa Local Government of Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria, abducting a village head and about 20 other persons.
Three villages- Gamji, Ungwar Mato and another village in Faskari Local Government of the state -were attacked by the terrorists who operated for about three hours.
Eyewitnesses told HumAngle that the attackers knowns as bandits by the locals trekked down to the Gamji village, unlike their previous attacks in which they came on motorbikes.
One of the villagers, who did not want to be named for his safety said he escaped into the bush when the gang came.
He told HumAngle that the bandits stormed the village around 10 pm on Tuesday and opened fire on the residents, kidnapped the village head and 25 others.
“No one can tell exactly the number of the people they abducted; we all know that they abducted the village Head and many others,” he said.
“We checked from house-to-house this morning and found out that 25 of our people are in their custody now,” said another villager who spoke without mentioning his name for security reasons.
“They came like people who migrated from somewhere else, heavily armed and covered their faces.”
“Two of my younger brothers are in their custody now; one of them is a law student in Yenagoa Law School while the other one is a graduate of Civil Engineering from Bayero University Kano,” he continued
He said there was no presence of security agents around the village during the attack noting that the village lies between Dandume and Sabuwa Local Government.
Another eyewitness recounted that the terrorists were in the village for about three hours.
“They were in the village from 10 pm up to 1 am and did not leave because there was no pressure from the security agents,” he said.
“We reported the issue to military checkpoint but they haven’t responded at all.”
The armed gang, according to sources at Unguwar Mato kidnapped three persons including two women and carted away food items and drugs.
This happened some hours after the group invaded Bilbis village of Faskari local government killed four people, wounded an undisclosed number of people and carted away livestock, a source said.
Katsina State is one of the northwestern states that are facing serious and frequent bandits’ attacks despite the claim of the presidency and the state government that the situation is under control.
It could be recalled that the Nigerian Army launched operation Sahel Sanity Exercise and Super Camp in Faskari Local Government of the state in order to checkmate the activities of criminal armed groups in Katsina, Zamfara and other Northwest states.
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