Bandits attacked a mosque in Tsafe town, the headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State and abducted scores of worshippers.
It was gathered that the bandits invaded the mosque around 5 a.m. on Thursday, February 29, 2024, when the people were about to start the morning prayer.
“We were about to start the morning prayer today, Thursday when suddenly they (bandits) entered the mosque and directed everybody to go out and follow them,” a resident, Garba told Punch.
“Everybody scampered for safety but the bandits blocked everywhere and warned us that they would kill anybody who tried to run away.
“I was able to jump out of the window and ran quickly into one of the uncompleted buildings near the mosque where I hid myself.”
According to him, the bandits left their motorcycles far away from the mosque so that the worshippers would not notice their movement.
“They came on foot, leaving their motorcycles outside the town so that they would not attract the attention of the people of the area. They later marched the worshippers to their motorcycles and took them to the forest,” he added
Garba said the number of abducted worshippers could be more than 30.
“The mosque was full to capacity when the bandits attacked the place and very few of us were able to escape.”
A community leader who spoke to the publication on condition of anonymity said members of the Community Protection Guards are on the trail of the bandits in order to rescue the kidnapped worshippers.