Men of the underworld have killed one person and abducted 20 people, including an Islamic cleric, in a raid on some villages in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
It should be noted that this was the first of such invasion in the area since insurgency commenced across the state.
A very reliable source told our Correspondent that the incident, which occurred at about 5:30pm on Saturday, left three persons critically injured following a stampede.
Findings have it that the Imam of the Emir’s palace mosque, simply identified as Malam Habibu, was among those kidnapped.
According to the source: “The bandits were many, they rode on motorcycles, carrying sophisticated guns, cutlasses and knives.
“They blocked the road from Ibbi to New Bussa and attacked the villagers going and coming from the markets in both communities and shot sporadically, killing one person and kidnapping 20 others.
“We did not know that the Imam was among those kidnapped until on Sunday morning when they (kidnappers) called the Emir and asked for the payment of N20 million for the release of the Imam.”
It was gathered that the bandits could have raided the areas from the National Park forests at Wawa, but findings have it that about 14 of the same set of bandits rode through the New Bussa town on Sunday, but did not kidnap anyone.
The Emir, Alhaji Mohammed Haliru Dantoro, on Monday summoned an emergency security meeting with all security chiefs in the area on how to secure the release of those kidnapped with a similar meeting slated for Tuesday with all district and village heads.
As at the time of filing this report, the police is yet to confirm the incident but the area is said to be quiet and peaceful.
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