No fewer than 55 wedding guests who were said to be escorting a bride home along the Damari town in Sabuwa Local Government Area of Katsina State have been kidnapped by suspected bandits.
A resident confirmed to PUNCH Online on Friday in a telephone call that the incident occurred on Thursday around 9pm.
The source further informed PUNCH Online that three local security volunteers lost their lives in the hurriedly coordinated effort to rescue the victims.
“Most of those the hoodlums attacked and abducted were those who were already crowded and riding in an open van called canter vehicle.
“The victims were initially over 70, mostly friends to the bride, in which several others escaped after jumping off the moving canter van when the terrorists hijacked the van,” he said.
PUNCH Online gathered that the Sabuwa area is plagued by security challenges.
The local government area has been dealing with the presence of bandits and their accomplices, who are often informants.
The Chairman of Dandume Local Government Area, Alhaji Basiru Musa, confirmed the report.
While some unconfirmed reports suggest that a few kidnapped women managed to escape, the chairman promised to verify and provide updates.
He clarified that although the women were from Dandume, the bandits intercepted them on their way from Sabuwa Local Government Area at around 9pm.
Sabuwa and Dandume are among the local government areas being heavily tormented by bandits in Katsina State.
In a related incident around the same time, gunmen reportedly from the Siddi forest, have been confirmed to have infiltrated Tashar Nadaya, near the Gazari district border in Sabuwa LG.
The criminals were said to have killed a commercial motorcycle rider and made away with his bike.
It was also learnt that they opened fire on a group of four individuals and confiscated their motorcycles
Attempts by PUNCH Online to get an official confirmation of this latest abduction from the police and other security agencies have not been successful.
