At least 20 residents of Kaura-Namoda, the headquarters of Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State, have been abducted by bandits.
The bandits also killed four women who resisted abduction.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS gathered that the bandits stormed the town around 2 a.m. on Saturday, shooting sporadically as they raided one house after another.
The attack came a few days after the lawmaker representing Kaura Namoda/Birnin Magaji Federal Constituency, Aminu Sani, raised the alarm that bandits had taken over his constituency.
An indigene of the town, who escaped abduction, Abdullahi Mohammed, disclosed that the bandits came with motorcycles and were fully armed.
According to him, the bandits went from house to house and dragged out 24 persons for abduction.
Mohammed added that the four women were killed because they refused to follow the bandits to the forest.
He lamented that the bandits operated for more than three hours in the town without any intervention from security agents.
“The bandits, who were heavily armed, came to our town in the early hours of Saturday when most of us were asleep. They started shooting sporadically to scare the people, and that was why many of us woke up.
“We attempted to face them, but unfortunately, most of us, including myself, ran away into the bush to avoid being killed or kidnapped. The bandits later moved from house to house, where they abducted 24 people, mostly women and children who could not run.
“They, however, killed four women who refused to go to the forest with them. What is happening in this area is really frightening, as the bandits are now operating freely in the area with little pressure from the security agents,” he stated.
Mohammed also disclosed that hundreds of villagers staged a peaceful demonstration in Kaura-Namoda last week to express their displeasure over the inability of the relevant authorities to come to their aid.
Another resident of the town, who spoke with DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS on condition of anonymity, said, “The bandits were many. They kidnapped a lot of people; I don’t know the exact number. They also killed some individuals. I left the town this morning because I’m afraid they may come back.”
All efforts to confirm the incident from the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Yazid Abubakar, were unsuccessful, as he neither answered several calls put across to his phone nor replied to the messages.
