Bandits kidnapped scores of worshippers in one of the mosques in Tsafe town, the headquarters of Zamfara State’s Tsafe Local Government Area.
An indigene of the region only identified as Garba reported that the bandits invaded the mosque around 5 a.m. on Thursday, just as the congregants were preparing to begin the morning prayer.
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Garba said, ”We were about to start the morning prayer today, Thursday when suddenly they (bandits) entered into the mosque and directed everybody to go out and follow them.
“Everybody scampered for safety but the bandits blocked everywhere and warned us that they would kill anybody who tried to run away.
“I was able to jump out of the window and ran quickly into one of the uncompleted buildings near the mosque where I hid myself.”
Garba maintained that the bandits left their motorcycles far away from the mosque so that the worshippers would not notice their movement.
“They came on foot, leaving their motorcycles outside the town so that they would not attract the attention of the people of the area.
“They later marched the worshippers to their motorcycles and took them to the forest,” he added.
According to Garba, the number of abducted worshippers could be more than 30.
He added that “the mosque was full to capacity when the bandits attacked the place and very few of us were able to escape.”
One of the community leaders who spoke to PUNCH Online on the phone on condition of anonymity said members of the Community Protection Guards are on the trail of the bandits in order to rescue the kidnapped worshippers.
Tsafe Local Government is one of the local government areas in the state worst hit by banditry.
The Tsafe-Gusau Road which is 56km has now become the most dangerous spot in the state where people are being kidnapped daily.
Scores of bandits lost their lives a few days ago within the local government when two rival groups clashed.
All efforts to get comments from the spokesperson for the state police command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, proved abortive, as he could not be reached on the phone after several attempts.
(PUNCH)
