Thirty out of the 40 Muslim worshipers abducted by bandits at a mosque in Jibiya, Katsina State in the wee hours of Monday have been rescued.
Spokesman to Katsina State police command, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed in an interview with the BBC that the bandits truly struck around 2.00 am on Monday at a new mosque in Unguwar Kwata.
He said “when they went they fired shots in the air and abducted the people in the mosques that came out for Tahajjud prayers.”
According to him, the police responded to the reports and collaborated with other security forces, vigilantes and the local community to give the bandit a hot pursuit thereby rescuing rescue 30 of the abductees.
This implied that about 10 worshipers are still unaccounted for, but he declined to say that they were still held captive. He suggested that they could as well have escaped from the gunmen.
Nigerian Sketch reported earlier that the gunmen forcibly took away 40 Muslim worshipers early Monday morning at a mosque in Katsina State, even though vigilante guards were already on alert and ready to confront them.
Hundreds of youths and vigilante group members were left aghast as the bandits came in through the western entry point, rather than the eastern point where they were being expected.
While the eastern entry points of Daddara, Kukar Babangida and Magama were fully fortified against the bandits, they sneaked in through Jibawa, went round to the western entry point near Yunusa Dantauri Hospital and attacked the mosque on the outskirt of the town.
