BANDITS have attacked Fugge, a village in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State and abducted the Village Head, Malam Abdullahi Zaure; his wife, Hajiya Amina Zaure and 49 others, mostly women and children on Friday.
Besides those abducted, many cattle of the villagers were also rustled.
Our Correspondent reliably gathered that the bandits invaded the village on several motorcycles and started shooting into the air to scare the villagers in broad daylight.
It was also gathered that immediately after the attack some fighter jets were seen hovering over the community to locate the bandits.
A reliable source from the area told this newspaper that the fighter jets eventually succeeded in attacking the bandits.
“After the attack, the fighter jets descended on the bandits as they were moving with the abductees which resulted in the death of several of the bandits and the rustled cattle.
“We saw some bodies of the bandits and corpses of cows that were killed or injured as the result of the airstrike in the forest.
“After the jet attack, the surviving bandits fled into their hideouts which are located in the forest bordering Niger State and Kebbi State.
“The bandits have begun contacting the families of the abductees and they are demanding fuel, motorcycles, and money as ransom for the release of the abductees,” the source added.
Efforts to get a reaction from the Spokesperson of the State Police Command, DSP Abiodun Wasiu proved abortive as he could not be reached on phone.
Similarly, the State Commissioner of Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar could not also be reached for comments on the issue as his number was switched off.
