- This happening just two weeks after 40 were killed in same state
About 40 people were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be cattle rustlers in Zamfara on Friday, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
Friday’s kidnap occurs about a fortnight after over 40 people were killed in the same state by gunmen who stormed a mining site.
Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara has, therefore, ordered full investigation into the circumstances that led to Friday’s abduction of over 40 persons in Maru Local Government Area of the state.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor, Ibrahim Dosara, and made available to newsmen in Gusau on Friday.
Mr. Dosara also said that the governor had ordered an immediate investigation into the activities of the bandits in the state with a view to restoring peace in the area.
Witnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria that the gunmen numbering over 100 stopped three Toyota Canters carrying passengers from Dansadau to Dankurmi and diverted the vehicles at gunpoint to an unknown destination.
NAN gathered that the hoodlums took away all the passengers, except one woman who they spared alongside her three-year-old son and told her to report back what happened.
The woman was said to have reported back to Dansadau that the bandits would not release the hostages until the governor released their cows numbering over 400 which were recovered from them by security men recently, within seven days.
A joint security patrol had recovered the rustled cows from the criminals during which seven members of the gang were also killed near Bindin village of Maru local government.
Shortly after the abduction of the villagers, a team of mobile policemen went on a rescue mission but the bandits shot and killed two of them and also went away with a third.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Muhammad Shehu, said already a joint security patrol was on trail of the bandits, assuring that they would soon be arrested.
Friday’s abduction occurs less than a fortnight after gunmen killed about 40 people in another village in Zamfara.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the gunmen suspected to be cattle rustlers stormed a mining site in Gidan Ardo Village of Bindin district of Maru Local Government Area.
Witnesses in the area said the gunmen numbering over 70 rode into the mining site at around 3 p.m. on November 7 and shot anyone on sight, killing over 40 persons and injuring several others.
