Bandits have abducted ten persons including a customs officer, during an attack at Kofar Gayan low-cost housing estate in Zaria city, Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna state.
According to Daily Trust, the ward head of the area, Muhammadu Nazifi, who confirmed the incident, said the bandits invaded the area around 9.00 pm on Wednesday.
Nazifi said, “Those kidnapped include his son, Jamalu, Muawiyya Gambo Turaki, a customs officer, who arrived home from his duty post just yesterday and his son Khalifa.”
“They also kidnapped a woman, Jamila Usman and another boy also called Khalifah. However, about four of them later escaped and returned back.”
One of the escapees, Yushau Isah, said about four of them managed to escape after trekking with the bandits for about five kilometers into the bush.
He narrated, “The abductors were eight in number and came on foot with sophisticated weapons. They struggled to speak Hausa language to us but their language of communication is Fulani.”
Isah said they managed to escape under the cover of the night.
“We attributed the abduction to the handiwork of informants because it seems their main target was the customs officer who arrived home from his duty post, just a day earlier only to be kidnapped the following day,” he added.
It was gathered that security operatives responded to a distress call but were a bit late as the bandits had taken away the victims before they arrived.
The incident comes two days after the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train where some passengers were killed, with several sustaining injuries and an unspecified number of people still unaccounted for.
