Gunmen abduct Katsina village head from palace

The village head of Banye in the Charanchi Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Daily Trust learnt that the village head, Alhaji Bishir Gide Banye, was abducted alongside one other victim believed to be a secondary school student.

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A resident of the town, who confided in Daily Trust, confirmed that the heavily armed attackers invaded the town on Friday night and went straight to the palace of the village head where they kidnapped him together with the other victim.

Banye, though in Charanchi Local Government Area, was affected by the GSM network shutdown in Kurfi Local Government Area of Katsina State, due to its proximity to the area, a situation that gave the attackers the opportunity to conduct the abduction unchallenged as residents could not alert security men.

This is the second time a village head has been abducted in the area; the village head of Barkiya town in Kurfi Local Government Area was earlier kidnapped.

He was, however, lucky to be rescued as security operatives were alerted and they trailed the kidnappers.

When contacted for confirmation of the incident, the spokesman of the Police in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah, said the report did not reach the command’s headquarters but promised to find out and revert.

However, he had not done so as of the time of filing this report.