Zamfara: Anxiety as Bandits Seize Policemen's Phones, Abduct Serving Lawmakers
- A Zamfara community, Tsauni in Gusau, the state capital, has experienced a fresh tragedy as bandits raided the community
- During the bandits' attack, two councillors in the Maradun LGA of the state were abducted along with the Imam of a mosque
- Sanusi Gama Giwa, the chairman of Maradun LGA, confirmed the attack and explained how the assailants seized some police officers' phones
There was tension in the Tsauni community in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state, on Wednesday night, October 1, when some bandits abducted two serving councillors and an Imam when they raised the community.
The councillors are representatives of the Gidan Goga and Tsibiri wards in Maradun Local Government Area of the state. The raid reportedly happened at about 8:05 p.m. around a police outpost, just after the Maghrib prayers had concluded.
Source: Twitter
Daily Trust reported that the incident was confirmed by Hon. Sanusi Gama Giwa, the chairman of the Maradun LGA. He also identified the abducted lawmakers as members of his council.
How bandits abducted Zamfara lawmakers
The council chairman explained that the victims were at a tea spot, relaxing, when the assailants struck. He explained that the incident happened in front of a police station. He posited that the bandits also collected phones of some police officers without any resistance, "they didn't harm anyone", he added.
According to Giwa, the assailants were initially searching for a specific individual who was from Kaura village. However, because they could not capture their target, they came across the group of men, and six of them were captured.
However, they later released three after walking a short distance and moved on with the councillors and the Imam. Tsauni is a community that once hosted some internally displaced persons who fled banditry from surrounding villages. This raised concerns about the vulnerability of the areas.
Bandits killed 5 in a Zamfara village
This came barely one week after five worshippers were killed by bandits in an attack on a mosque during the early morning prayer at the Yandoto village in the Tsafe local government area of Zamfara state. The attack reportedly happened in the early hours of Friday, September 26, and has landed the community in a wave of shock.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the gunmen opened fire on the worshippers indiscriminately as they stormed the most. Five people were reportedly killed immediately, and several people sustained gunshot wounds.
One of the residents who spoke to journalists but did not want to be named for security concerns disclosed that an unspecified number of worshippers were also abducted before escaping through the nearby forest.
Gunmen kill hostage in Gombe
Legit.ng earlier reported that a Gombe man identified as Hammayidi, at Galumji village in the Dukku LGA of the state, has been killed by bandits, after his family paid N5 million ransom.
According to the report, Hammayidi was abducted at his residence three weeks ago during a midnight raid by the bandits.
A family member said that the ransom was raised after the family sold farm produce and livestock on Dukku market day.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
