By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Bandits have reportedly attacked a mosque, abducting a score of worshippers in the headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area, Zamfara State.
An indigene simply identified as Garba disclosed the incident noting that the bandits invaded the mosque around 5 a.m. on Thursday when the people were about to start the morning prayer.
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.”
A community leader, speaking anonymously revealed that members of the Community Protection Guards are actively pursuing the bandits to secure the release of the abducted worshippers.
Source: Punch