The Niger state police command has confirmed the killing of one person and abduction of three others in Rafi local government area of the state.
The command’s Public Relation Officer, DSP Abubakar Dan-Ina, told Daily Trust on phone that the armed men attacked Kusherki community at about 1:00am on Sunday.
According to him, men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad are on the trail of the kidnappers, adding that effort is being made to rescue the victims and arrest the abductors.
The Zarnan Kusherki, Alhaji Garba Kusherki, said gunmen numbering over 20 on motorcycles attacked the community when everyone was asleep.
He said the assailants went from house-to-house, ransacked them and demanded for money at gunpoint.
“They first forced their ways into the house of Alhaji Abubakar Kaura where they ordered him to bring out money but he said he didn’t have any money and they opened fire on him.
“One of them hit him on the head and he died instantly and they kidnapped his daughter, Shamsiyya,” he explained.
According to him, the assailants also forced their ways into the house of Alhaji Jafaru Jibrin Kusherki and kidnapped him and also abducted the traditional ruler’s cousin, Abdulrashid Mohammed.
He said the kidnappers operated for over an hour unchallenged despite the fact that security operatives are stationed at the Government Secondary School within the community as at the time of the incident.
“They have reached out to family members to demand for N20 million ransom but nobody can raise such an amount here,” he said.
He said the community has never experienced such incident even though there were rampant kidnapping cases in other communities across the local government area.
He attributed the incessant raid around the area to bandits’ activities in neighbouring states of Kaduna and Zamfara states, adding that the closeness of the local government to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state puts it at serious disadvantage.
He called on state and federal government to ensure permanent security presence across border communities so as to check the menace.
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