Scores of Worshippers Abducted As Bandits Raid Zamfara Mosque

Scores of worshippers in one of the mosques in Tsafe town, the headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, were abducted by bandits on Thursday.

Confirming the incident, an indigene of the area simply identified as Garba told journalists that the bandits invaded the mosque around 5 a.m. when the people were about to start the morning prayer.

Garba said, ”We were about to start the morning prayer today, Thursday, when suddenly they (bandits) entered the mosque and directed everybody to go out and follow them.

“Everybody scampered for safety, but the bandits blocked everywhere and warned us that they would kill anybody who tried to run away.

“I was able to jump out of the window and ran quickly into one of the uncompleted buildings near the mosque, where I hid myself.”

The bandits, according to Garba, left their motorcycles far away from the mosque so that the worshippers would not notice their movement.

“They came on foot, leaving their motorcycles outside the town so that they would not attract the attention of the people of the area.

“They later marched the worshippers to their motorcycles and took them to the forest,” he added.

The source noted that the abducted worshippers could be more than 30.

He added that “the mosque was full to capacity when the bandits attacked the place, and very few of us were able to escape.”