Bandits invade mosque in Zamfara, abduct worshippers

Suspected bandits at the weekend invaded the Jumuat Mosque in Zugu community of Gummi local government area of Zamfara and abducted several worshippers’

Residents said the armed men hid their guns inside their clothes and stormed the mosque when the Imam was about to start delivering a sermon.

“When they laid siege, they asked those outside to go into the mosque and told worshippers that they had come to negotiate the release of some captives with them.

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“No one saw them with guns and many people mistook them for worshippers. Nobody paid attention to them because they hid their guns. However, shortly after they moved inside the mosque, they brought out the rifles and fired some warning shots. They herded the congregants into bush but some of the worshippers managed to scramble out of the mosque to safety. The muezzin was among those kidnapped but the Imam was able to escape the assault.

“Some those who were outside the mosque were also abducted because unknown to them that some armed men took positions outside. They fired several gunshots into the air and then moved to the forest with the captives,” a resident who simply identified himself as Abubakar said.

The spokesman of the state police command SP Muhammad Shehu said he had not received report about the attack but promised to get back to our correspondent.