Banditry; Etsu Nupe , Yahaya Abubakar summons Traditional Rulers to Meeting.
*Five, scores of Islamiyya pupils kidnapped
Yahaya Zakka Minna.
The Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, has called for an emergency meeting of districts and village heads over the kidnap of five persons in Batatti, Lavun Local Government Area of the state, by suspected bandits.
The bandits numbering about 10 had on Friday stormed Batatti at 8:00 pm, kidnapped five persons and injured several others.
This is as scores of Islamiyya pupils were kidnapped in Tegina, Makeri Local Government of the state.
Our correspondent gathered that the bandits are already demanding N50 million as ransoms to secure the release of the five victims even as other valuables including laptops and handsets were carted away.
An eyewitness disclosed that the bandits operated in the shop of one Kolade Olushoshola at Batatti and other shops along Bida-Mokwa High Way.
The eye witness account showed that one Zacharia, who was at the shop to purchase a recharge card when the bandits struck, is among those who sustained injuries.
It was reliably gathered that the bandits arrived Batati in a white Hillux vehicle and performed congregational ‘ishai’ prayers with the members of the community before shooting into the air.
The action of the bandits, the witness stated, made shop owners, petty traders within the vicinity to abandon their wares and shops ran for safety.
“After several hours of wreaking havoc on Batatti, they left the area through Gbangbagi community to the forest of Fazhi and Kutigi the headquarters of Lavun Local Government Area,” the witness said.
