Four persons, including two Catholic priests, have been abducted by gunmen in Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria.
The clergymen are the Mai Kanbu Parish Priest, Father Stephen Ojapa, and Father Oliver Okpara along with two of their visitors, all boys.
“No information as to their whereabouts. Kindly pray for their safety and release,” a statement from the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Fr Chris Omotosho, added.
Sources told Channels Television that the gunmen broke into the St. Patrick Catholic Church rectory at Gidan Mai Kanbu at about 1:00 am on Wednesday.
Although police authorities in the state are yet to confirm the incident, residents said the gunmen stormed the community in their numbers but this time without motorcycles.
The police spokesman, SP Gambo Isah, said the command has not received any report regarding the incident. He, however, assured that details of the incident will be communicated soon.
This attack is coming barely one day after gunmen killed at least twelve people at Gakurdi village in Jibia Local Government Area of the state.
They also burnt farmlands belonging to the villagers during the early morning operation that lasted hours.
An eyewitness said the attackers, armed with weapons, arrived in the village on four motorcycles and started shooting sporadically in the air to disperse the residents.
This development, according to the eyewitness, however, caused panic in the area, leaving residents scampering for safety in the neighboring communities.
Isah said that some of the victims of the attack were villagers who had attempted to escape into their farmlands.
He explained that security operatives were already on the matter as the Commissioner of Police, Idris Dauda Dabban, led a team of security operatives including himself to the village for an on-the-spot assessment.
