The Zamfara State Police Command said bandits attacked and killed a man identified as Ashiru Nagoma and abducted his wife and neighbour in Buluku, an outskirt of Gusau Local Government Area of the state.
The spokesperson for the command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed to PUNCH Online on Tuesday.
This was coming on the heels of the post on X (formerly Twitter) made by a Maiduguri-based security expert, Zagazola Makama, who raised an alarm that bandits sneaked into Gusau town to abduct several worshippers in a mosque while observing midnight prayers around 2 am.
“Sad. In the early morning of Tuesday at about 0200hr, bandit sneaked into Gusau Town and abducted several worshippers in a Mosque while they were observing tahajjud (midnight) prayers,” he wrote.
However, speaking on the incident, Abubakar stressed that the late Nagoma had resisted an attack by the gunmen, and they, in turn, killed him and abducted his wife and neighbour.
“The bandits did not attack the mosque. They had a target, and it was the man that was attacked. His wife and neighbour were abducted.
“Our rescue team is on top of the situation and is making frantic efforts to make sure that the perpetrators are brought to book and the abducted victims are rescued. An investigation is also ongoing,” he maintained.
The PUNCH had in February reported that bandits abducted scores of worshippers in one of the mosques in Tsafe town, the headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
An indigene of the area, simply identified as Garba, told PUNCH Online that the bandits invaded the mosque around 5 a.m. 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 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.”
