By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
The District Head of Yakila community in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulhamid, has been kidnapped by suspected armed bandits.
The kidnappers also raided a neighbouring community, Garin-Gabbas, and kidnapped a staff nurse whose name was given as Halima and two of her children during the encounter, which took place at about 2am Thursday.
The armed bandits, numbering about 20, riding on motorcycles and armed with sophisticated weapons, including AK47 riffles, our correspondent gathered, raided both Yakila and Garin-Gabbas, the two adjoining villages in the district in the early hours unchallenged.
Eyewitness said, “The bandits shot sporadically into the air to instill fears and scare away possible interferences from members of the communities before disappearing into the darkness with their victims”.
Though no life was lost, the eyewitness said that the armed bandits operated without restrictions in the two communities, adding, “Some of the bandits had entered the district head’s room and forced him out and took him along with them”.
While the gunshots were fired by the bandits, the source said many of the villagers who were rattled scampered for safety and some ran into bushes for safety while the bandits had field day selecting choice products from their food stuff.
Both the local vigilante and conventional police men in the areas were caught unawares by the attackers as such they could not repel the armed men who spent time ransacking the homes of their victims and taking along with them food and materials.
The Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko Inga, when contacted on phone, confirmed receiving report about the attacks early Thursday (yesterday) morning, saying, “We will get the details and get back to you.”
Rafi local government area of the state has come under series of attacks by bandits in the last couple of days.
Just last Monday the palace of the village head of Pangu in the Gunna district of the same local government area was set ablaze by suspected bandits.
Also burnt during a raid last week Monday were the only existing rural hospital in the area built and donated to the community by the World Bank, while several houses and freshly harvested agricultural products were destroyed as well and many of the villagers rendered homeless.
Our correspondent also gathered that the bandits who carried out the earlier attack also rode on about 13 motorcycles and armed with sophisticated weapons.
Niger State Police Command has not issued any statement on the two incidents. And, efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Wasiu Abiodun, to confirm the incidents proved abortive.
The PPRO declined several calls and also did not respond to text messages sent to him as at the time of this report.