Bandits have abducted six Muslim residents while they were observing Taraweeh prayers inside a mosque in the Azara community of Kachia LGA, Kaduna State.
A resident of Azara, Tanimu Ibrahim, who stated that the incident occurred on Thursday, added that the bandits invaded the community, shot sporadically into the air before whisking away six adults—four men and two women.
Ibrahim added that the bandits also raided another house while fleeing the community and abducted two additional persons. However, those two victims managed to escape as they were being led into the bush.
“Two other victims were abducted, but as God would have it, they narrowly escaped on their way into the forest,” he said.
A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the abduction and identified the victims as Saifullahi Harisu, Yakubu Yunusa, Abba Minkailu, Yusha’u Sadiku, Maryam Abdullahi, and Aisha Yakubu.
The leader further revealed that the abductors established contact on Friday morning, demanding a N30 million ransom for the victims’ release.
“Contact was established around 11 am on Friday when the bandits’ leader called and demanded N30 million and he immediately switched off the phone,” he said.
Police source in the area confirmed the abduction but declined further details, referring our reporter to the state police command in Kaduna.
The spokesperson for the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Hassan Mansur, has not reacted to the incident at the time of filing this report.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
