Gunmen suspected to be bandits dressed in military uniforms have kidnapped 31 villagers in a coordinated attack carried out in Tashar Nagule village of Batsari local government area of Katsina State.

A credible source in the area disclosed that the armed men in large numbers appeared in military uniforms inside the community on Sunday night and seized both women, children and men, numbering 31.

He explained that the assailants had first besieged the community before sending some of their men through the main entrance to kidnap the villagers, while their motorcycles were left outside the community.

“I was sitting outside with some of my friends around 9pm when we first heard gunshots. We stood up to run from the place but the terrorists shouted that we should stop because they were security agents sent to protect us.

“They knew that when they said they were policemen or soldiers sent to protect us, we will believe them, and that was what happened,” the source narrated.

The source reiterated that residents were deceived and began to gather at the village square, not knowing that the intruders, some of whom wore military camouflage, were not security operatives but bandits.

He said, “When the terrorists had circled the residents, they told them to follow them into the forest. That was when I knew they were not security agents. I slipped out of the group and ran back into my house.

“As of now (Monday morning), we have counted 31 people who had been taken away. Some of them were abducted when they ran outside into the bush because several terrorists were stationed outside the village to lay ambush.”

Batsari LGA and its environs have been under constant attacks of bandits recently, forcing many residents of the area to flee their homes to seek refuge elsewhere in more urban centres.

Meanwhile, Katsina State Police Command was yet to make any official statement regarding the latest attack as the time of this report.

Leadership