Attempt To Re-abduct Escaped LG Chair Fails, 75 kidnapped In Zamfara

No fewer than 75 persons have been abducted in fresh attacks by suspected bandits on Bungudu Local Government Area and three villages under Magami District in Gusau and Maru local government areas of Zamfara State.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the attacks occurred on Sunday evening and in the early hours of Monday.

A resident of Bungudu town, Abdurrazaq, said the bandits were allegedly on a mission to re-abduct the Chairman of Bungudu Local Government Area who recently escaped from their den alongside four others.

Confirming the Bungudu attack, Honorable Anas Sulaiman, the Councillor representing Bungudu Council Ward in Bungudu Local Government Area, said the bandits came in large numbers, abducted about 13 persons very close to the residence of the local government chairman, killed one person and made away with the rest.”It’s obvious they came for chairman” He added.

He said the bandits attacked the headquarters of the local government on Sunday evening where they killed one person and abducted the victims.

In a similar development, suspected bandits invaded Magama Mai Rake in Maru LGA around 12:00am on Monday, shooting sporadically before conducting house-to-house searches.

A survivor of the attack, Malam Lawali Kutsa Ada, told LEADERSHIP that the assailants abducted about 44 persons, mostly women and children, and set ablaze about 10 vehicles, including Canter trucks and other commercial vehicles belonging to members of the community.

Another eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, said a police team responded promptly to the distress call but could not immediately engage the bandits due to their large number and superior firepower.

The attackers also simultaneously invaded Yargada and Maikogo villages, all under Magami District of Gusau LGA, where they abducted 20 persons.

Confirming the incidents, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Zamfara State Command, DSP Yazid Abubakar, said the Command received report of the abduction in Bungudu and has deployed a Search and Rescue Team to ensure the safe rescue of the victims.

Abubakar added that the same team has been deployed to secure the release of those abducted in Magama Mai Rake in Maru LGA.

He said the Command was still investigating the actual number of abducted victims, noting that the figure might be less than what members of the communities claimed.

“The deployed men of the Zamfara Police Command are currently there doing the needful to prevent any further movement by the suspected bandits in their efforts to escape with the victims,” the PPRO said.