Armed bandits have kidnapped the village head of Rakyabu in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Magaji Sa’idu, and the Chief Imam of the village, Malam Abdullah.
The occurrence took place last Wednesday when terrorists attacked the community. While the state police authorities have not yet officially confirmed the recent abductions.
“I am not aware of the incident, I just returned to the state from an official engagement, I will contact the DPO of Tsafe and I will get back to you,” the spokesperson of Zamfara State Police Command, Yazid Abubakar, told Channels Television.
However, a resident from the area, requesting anonymity for security concerns, disclosed that the bandits had communicated with the community, insisting on a ransom of N5 million.
The resident explained that the community initiated a fundraising effort since the incident but was only able to gather N500,000. Despite handing over the sum, the bandits have yet to release the two individuals who were abducted.
“They said we must balance the remaining N4.5 million, they did not release the captives even till now,” he said.
“We are soliciting support from relevant authorities to assist us in getting the captives to regain their freedom, we have tried our best since last week.”
Bandits have been a persistent menace in several North-West and North-Central states, establishing bases within dense forests and conducting raids on villages to plunder resources and abduct residents for ransom.
In the North-East, jihadists have faced setbacks in territories they once controlled during the peak of the conflict. Despite these losses, they persist in rural areas.
Since 2009, over 40,000 people have lost their lives, and two million have been displaced in this conflict.