Suspected bandits have abducted scores of villagers – numbering about 60 – at Ruwan Tofa village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
During the attack which occurred on Tuesday, vehicles and shops were set ablaze by the bandits.
An eyewitness lamented that his four wives and children were abducted by the armed men who left behind only his seven-year-old child with him.
He explained that a representative of the village head and his entire family, as well as married women, children, and some aged ones were among those abducted.
Residents of the village faulted the response of the security agencies to the attack, saying they made several calls to them as soon as the bandits arrive in the village.
They claimed that the security agencies promised to deploy operatives as soon as possible but none of them was seen up to the time when the bandits left the village.
Efforts to reach the police authorities in Zamfara to confirm the number of those said to have been abducted were not successful as the Public Relations Officer of the command did not pick his calls or reply to text messages sent to him.
The latest attack came barely a day after the release of over 200 students abducted in Jangebe town in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of the state.
On February 26, a group of gunmen invaded the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe and abducted the students.
Although the police said a total of 317 girls were abducted from the schools, some of the schoolgirls were said to have escaped from the bandits.
The remaining students were released after spending four nights in the custody of the bandits and the state governor, Bello Matawalle, put the figure of those freed at 279.
Their release was said to have triggered another unfortunate incident that reportedly led to the death of one person in Jangebe.
The victim was reportedly shot by security operatives who were said to have opened fire after an angry mob kicked against the insistence on a formal handover before the girls’ parents could leave with them.
In reaction to this, the state government imposed a curfew on the town and suspend market activities in the town to prevent a further breakdown of law and order.
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