Bandits abduct worshippers from Zamfara mosque

Numerous worshippers have been kidnapped by bandits from one of the mosques in Tsafe town, which serves as the administrative center of Tsafe Local Government Area in Zamfara State.

It was known that the bandits broke into the mosque on Thursday morning just as people were getting ready to begin morning prayer.

Garba stated, “Today, Thursday, we were going to begin the morning prayer when all of a sudden, the bandits broke into the mosque and told everyone to go outside and follow them.”

Everyone scrambled to safety, but the bandits barricaded every path and threatened to kill anyone attempting to flee.”I managed to leap out of the window and swiftly made my way into one of the incomplete structures close to the mosque, where I took cover.”Garba claims that the bandits parked their motorcycles far away from the mosque in order to hide their presence from the worshippers.

In order to avoid drawing attention from the locals, they left their motorcycles outside of the town and arrived on foot.

He continued, “Afterwards, they marched the worshippers to their motorcycles and drove them into the forest.”

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.”One of the local leaders, speaking over the phone on condition of anonymity, said that the Community Protection Guards are chasing the bandits in an effort to free the kidnapped worshippers.Tsafe Local Government is one of the local government districts in the state where banditry has caused the most damage.

The Tsafe-Gusau Road which is 56km has now become the most dangerous spot in the state where people are being kidnapped daily.

Scores of bandits lost their lives a few days ago within the local government when two rival groups clashed.

After multiple attempts, ASP Yazid Abubakar, the state police command spokesperson, could not be reached by phone, so all attempts to obtain comments from him were unsuccessful.