A group of bandits are reported to have attacked a mosque in Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria on Saturday, shooting 2 persons and abducting 18 others.
SaharaReporters reporters said the terrorists disrupted Ishaa’i prayer during the attack on the mosque in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state.
The mosque is in Maigamji village, along Funtua-Dandume Road in the Funtua Local Government Area of the state.
A former councillor of Maigamji ward, Alhaji Lawal Maigamji, confirmed the assailants shot 2 people including the Imam leading the prayers, Daily Trust reports.
He identified those who were shot as the Imam, Malam Yusha’u and a worshipper, Hussaini Jamo, saying they were receiving treatment at a hospital in Funtua.
“They surrounded the mosque when Ishaa’i congregational prayer was being conducted. After shooting Imam Yusha’u and Hussaini Jamo, they abducted 18 people and made away with them into the bush,” Maigamji said.
He, however, said 4 of the abducted persons later escaped from their captors while in transit.
In another development, no less than 31 people were allegedly abducted in Karare and Kokiya villages of Batsari Local Government Area of the state.
According to Daily Trust, residents alleged that 40 terrorists riding on motorcycles invaded the villages, killing one person and abducting many victims, including women and children.
The chairman of Batsari Local Government Area, Yusuf Yanji, confirmed the abduction of residents to Daily Trust but dismissed reports that they were students.