Gunmen abduct eight in Zamfara, demand N50m

Eight persons have again been abducted in Kanoma town of the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State by unknown gunmen suspected to be Fulani.

Narrating the incident, a resident of the town, Alhaji Ibrahim Kanoma said the bandits invaded the town around 1am on Monday and shot sporadically to scare the inhabitants.

Ibrahim disclosed that the bandits abducted 24 persons but later released 16 of them “because they looked very wretched” and went away with eight.

According to him, after several phone calls, the bandits were demanding the sum of N50m before they could release the victims.

Confirming the incident to one of our correspondents on the telephone, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Shehu, said the victims were abducted in Kanoma town around 1am on Monday.

The PPRO said on hearing the attack, the command mobilized a team of policemen to pursue the hoodlums in order to rescue the victims.

Meanwhile, a prominent Islamic scholar, Sheik Ahmad Umar Kanoma has appealed to the relevant authorities to urgently do something to rescue the victims. He also called on the government at all levels to find a lasting solution to the security problem ravaging the state.

Kanoma, who spoke on banditry during the Ramadan lecture, described the insecurity problem in the state as a “time bomb.”

He called on the Muslims to intensify prayers for God’s intervention.