Unknown gunmen have allegedly killed the village head of Zagzaga community, Mallam Usman Tukura, in Munya Local Government Area of Niger State and kidnapped no fewer than 15 people.
The incident occurred on Tuesday night when the bandits stormed the village in large numbers unleashed terror on residents for about two hours uninterrupted.
A youth leader from the community, Yahuza Mohammed, when contacted, said the attack was the fifth in the last four months, adding that the bandits invaded the village when the people had retired into their homes at about 11 pm.
Mohammed stated that the village head met his untimely death when he came out of his house to beg the gunmen to leave the people alone as they opened fire on him and he died on the spot.
He explained that the bandits raided the community, moving from house to house (without the usual sporadic shooting into the air to scare the people), woke them up, and stole their money and other belongings.
Mohammed further stated that most of those abducted were women and children from the community.
According to him: “Before attacking the people, the bandits had broken into shops and stole various items before attacking the residents of the village. They killed our leader and carried 15 away.”
Two weeks ago, about 30 people from the neighbouring villages of Igu Tsauni, Shapai, and Mangoro, all in Munya LGA, were kidnapped.
Three managed to escape, with the bandits asking for the sum of one million naira as ransom per head for the 27 people in their captivity.
