The residents of Nahuce of Bungudu Local Government Area, Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria, were pitifully asleep on the night of Wednesday as terrorists stormed their town and operated for about three hours.
Residents who spoke to HumAngle said about 30 terrorists driving a Hilux van and riding motorcycles invaded the town around 1:00 a.m till 4:00 a.m.
The local vigilante officers were overpowered by the terrorists who tripled their number and carried sophisticated weapons not afforded by the vigilante group.
The resident said they gave a distress call to the military and police officers but they arrived many minutes after the terrorists left with the abductees.
During the overnight operation, six people, including two women and two minors, were abducted and one person was severely wounded.
“They abducted two wives and two kids of Alhaji Yusuf Na-Abu after they beat him to pulp,” a source told HumAngle.
The source added that Mallam Usman Bello and Alhaji Yakubu Bargaje were among the people kidnapped yesterday.
Not the First Time
The attack was not the first. In September, 2020, the terrorists attacked two different towns of Yar Kaita and Garka where they murdered one person and abducted three others.
A resident said the terrorists stormed the town at least four times since 2018 when they attacked Alhaji Ibrahim Sanko at the Sabon Gari area.
They returned to the Yar Kaita area and destroyed the properties of Alhaji Yusuf Na-Abu on July 22, 2020.
Another attack was at the residence of Alhaji Badamasi Nahutawa Petroleum on Aug. 6, 2020.
A Neighbour As Informant
According to the source who spoke to HumAngle, Na-Abu was beaten because he was able to identify one of the terrorists during the operation.
He said a report compiled by the people concerned about the security situation in Nahuce and neighboring towns concluded that some unidentified residents work as informants for the terrorists.
“When they invaded the house of Alhaji Yusuf Na-Abu, he was able to identify one of them as a resident of a neighboring town because that was the second time he saw him,” the source said.
“They started beating him after he called his name and that injured him severely.
“He is currently in hospital bed receiving treatments and his wives and two kids were abducted.”
Several hands are pointing fingers to the informants as the planners of attacks in Zamfara State.
According to the Emir of Maru in Zamfara, Alhaji Maigari, informants are responsible for the lingering insecurity in the state.
He told the newly-deployed Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Abutu Yaro, who visited him on Jan. 9, that police must check the activities of the informants for a lasting peace in the state.
“We are appealing to government and security agencies to take serious measures (in) addressing informants’ activities in the state.
“Most of the informants are within our communities, and they are known by people. They move freely in communities carrying out ugly activities unchecked.
“We want security agencies to concentrate and deal with them decisively,’’ the emir said.
From Motorcycles to Vans
According to different reports, terrorists in Zamfara state are attacking different communities on motorcycles.
However, sources have confirmed that the terrorists have recently resorted to using Hilux vans to raid villages and towns.
“They came in a Hilux van and operated for hours before they left,” a source in Nahuce town told HumAngle.
Meanwhile, a report has alleged that Zamfara State Government gave the terrorists the vans they use to attack and kidnap people in 2019 during a peace deal with them, an allegation the government has denied.
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