Village head, 49 others kidnapped in Niger

Terrorists have again attacked Niger state during which a village head and 49 others were abducted.
The Village Head of the Fugge community in the Rijau local government area, Mallam Abdullahi Zaure, and 49 others were abducted on Friday.

Most of those abducted were women, children, while few of them were males.

Besides those abducted, many cattle of the villagers were also rustled.

Our Correspondent reliably gathered that the terrorists invaded the village on several motorcycles and started shooting into the air to scare the villagers in broad daylight.

It was also gathered that some fighter jets were noticed hovering over the Communities to locate the terrorists and possibly attack them during their dastardly mission.

A reliable and competent source from the area said the fighter jets eventually succeeded in attacking the terrorists.

“During the attack, the fighter jets descended on the terrorists when they were moving with the abductees which resulted in the death of several of the terrorists and the rustled cattle.

“We saw some bodies of the terrorists and corpses of cows that were killed or injured as the result of the airstrike in the forest.

“After the attack on them, the surviving terrorists fled into their hideouts which are located in the forest bordering Niger State and Kebbi State.

“The terrorists 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 revealed.

Efforts to get a reaction from the Spokesman of the State Police Command, DSP Abiodun Wasiu proved abortive as he could not be reached on the phone.

Similarly, the State Commissioner of Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar could not also be reached for comments on the issue as his number could not also be reached.