Terrorists stormed a mosque during the Friday congregational prayer in Dutsin Gari, killing five people and kidnapped 41 people, including the imam, identified as Mallam Yahya.
Dutsin Gari is a village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria. The village, which is well known for its sugarcane production, has long been a target of abductors.
According to Daily Nigerian, the terrorists arrived on over 100 motorcycles, with which they carried their victims to their hideouts in the forest.
They fired gunshots, which caused a stampede and forced the imam to cut short the prayer session halfway.
The imam and some of the other victims were, however, later released on Saturday “without paying ransoms” according to a source in the village, Sani Kanoma.
“The targets of the abductors are the wealthy sugarcane farmers who can pay millions of naira in ransom,” Kanoma explained.
When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer for the Zamfara State Command, Mohammed Shehu, said he would provide details of the tragic incident on Sunday.
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