No less than 6 family members of Umar Tata, a popular politician and gubernatorial aspirant from President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state have been kidnapped.
They were kidnapped by bandits in Dutsinma town, the headquarters of Dutsinma Local Government Area of Katsina State.
According to reports, the bandits stormed the house of one Alhaji Babangida Abdullahi around 12:00am on Saturday night, August 20, and whisked the victims away.
They were wedding guests of Alhaji Abdullahi, whose house is close to the residence of Umar Tata. Tata contested for the gubernatorial ticket under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the recent party primaries.
An undisclosed source said that informants were suspected to have played a role considering the way the incident played out.
“The woman whose children were among those kidnapped is the sister of the politician (Tata) and the way the attackers went straight to the house and kidnapped the women, was really questionable,” he said.
A resident of Dutsinma who pleaded anonymity said the terrorists initially kidnapped nine people at Unguwar Kudu quarters of the town but three were later released.
“First they abandoned an elderly woman who could not trek with a small boy who was continuously crying. Then when they went further they also left another woman who was worn out,” the resident said.
“Recently there was a time the bandits came to Dutsinma for four consecutive days and kidnapped people. The situation has become worse lately and we are really disturbed,” the source
A community leader who spoke on conditions of anonymity confirmed the incident.
He said: “We have just returned from the house where the incident happened, where we commiserated with the families of the victims. It is really becoming worrisome (banditry) and we are appealing to the security agencies to rose to the occasion,” he said
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