Bandits invaded the Gobirawan Cali community in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Northwest region and abducted over 40 persons, local sources said on Sunday morning.
The bandits had come on a reprisal mission after one of them who came in earlier on Saturday was disarmed of his AK47 gun.
A source said in an interview with the BBC Hausa service monitored on Sunday that the gunmen, suspected to be bandits who have been terrorizing the Northwest and Northcentral portions of Nigeria, stormed the community, shooting sporadically.
According to him,” they came in troops. They entered our community and shot guns repeatedly, chasing people. We were running, scampered for safety. The community is now deserted. We all ran away. We are about 3,500.
“They took us by surprise. At about 3.30 pm a gunman came and tried to kidnap one of our men. He was able to wrestle the gunman, slammed him on the ground and seized his AK 47. Immediately, he picked the gun and threw it inside a maize farm nearby. The gunman regained consciousness and picked race. We never knew his colleagues were waiting in the bushes. They thereafter came into our communities in great number and shot repeatedly. “We ran away but they abducted over 40. Some managed to escape. We couldn’t call the security agents because there were no networks. Our community is now empty. We are not going back unless the government provide us with security.”
