‘I’m in Zamfara forest, hale and hearty’, Kidnapped Katsina monarch tells family

The village head of Radda, Alhaji Kabir Umar, who was kidnapped in the early hours of Friday, has said he was hale and hearty in the hands of his abductors.

A member of the family of the kidnapped monarch, Mustapha Radda, told our reporter that Alhaji Umar called around 8 pm Friday and disclosed that he was taken to a forest in Zamfara.

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“He was able to go along with his cellphone, so he called and said that his captors did not make any physical maltreatment to him and that he was taken to a forest in Zamfara State,” Radda has said.

There was, however, no demand or proposal made for a ransom to be paid for the release of the abducted village head as at the time of filing this report.

Recall that unknown gunmen reportedly abducted the village head in the early hours of Friday from his palace in Radda, Charanchi Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The assailants also reportedly injured Umar’s younger brother, Aminu Umar Radda, on the thigh and he is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Kano.

“When they came, they started shooting sporadically, sending fears into the residents of the town as a result of which nobody dared to come out.

“They raided the personal house of the village head, where they abducted him, also surrounded the palace and the house of Alhaji Aminu Umar, the younger brother of the village head, where they shot him on the leg.

“As we speak, he was taken to Kano orthopedic hospital where two bullets were removed from his body,” a family source has said.

Residents revealed that the gunmen stormed the community in large numbers about 2 in the morning and operated for hours.

“The gunmen arrived the village about 2a.m. and were shooting here and there,” a resident who didn’t want his name in print has disclosed.

“They abducted our village head and wounded his younger brother on the thigh.

“But we cannot say exactly the number of items taken stolen or taken along with them as they kept on shooting during the operation and while they were even leaving the community.”

The Spokesman for the Katsina Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident, although he did not give details on the incident, saying “details are still sketchy”.