Bandits Raid Mosque During Prayers, Shots Imam And Worshiper

A mosque was reportedly attacked by bandits in Maigamji hamlet on the Funtua-Dandume route in Katsina State’s Funtua Local Government Area.

Alhaji Lawal Maigamji, a former councillor of Maigamji ward in Funtua LGA of Katsina, reported that the bandits raided the mosque on Saturday, December 3, 2022, during Isha’i prayer and opened fire on two persons, including the Imam.

Malam Yusha’u, the Imam, and Hussaini Jamo, a worshipper, were the two people shot, Lawal said, adding that they are both being treated at a hospital in Funtua.

He said, “They surrounded the mosque when Ishaa’i congregational prayer was being conducted, after shooting Imam Yusha’u and Hussaini Jamo, they abducted 18 people and made away with them into the bush.”

Four of the kidnapped victims, he said, managed to escape from their captors while being transported.

In a related occurrence, at least 31 persons are said to have been kidnapped early on Friday in the villages of Karare and Kokiya in the Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

A group of roughly 40 motorcycle-riding terrorists raided the village, where they killed one person and kidnapped a number of residents, including women and children.

According to information obtained by Daily Trust, several of the abductees were Kokiya village students who were en route to the Government Day Secondary School, Karare.

Locals in Karare and Kokiya villages had not yet tallied the number of victims who had been kidnapped at the time this article was being written.

The residents voiced concern over the rising number of kidnappings for ransom, cattle rustlings, and brutal killings of innocent people in the area.

Yusuf Yanji, the head of the Batsari Local Government Area, confirmed the kidnapping of certain locals but denied the reports of some students being kidnapped, calling the rumors untrue.