January 30, (THEWILL) – Two people have been killed, while over 100 others have been kidnapped from Tungan Bako and Kawo communities in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
The incident occurred on Thursday night when the gunmen, riding on motorcycles stormed the farming communities at about 11:00pm.
Those killed, according to eyewitnesses, were trying to escape from the assault by the gunmen but were caught in the crossfire.
A pregnant woman and her two children were among those kidnapped but the eyewitness said the woman was later released while her two children were taken away.
One of the community leaders, in a chat with newsmen under condition of anonymity, said two people who wanted to escape to the bush were shot dead by the gunmen, adding that the operation lasted till 3:30am on Friday morning without any resistance.
“The entire Tungan Bako and Kawo communities are now deserted, everybody have left the communities. The situation is very serious”, he said.
However, barely 24 hours after the incident, the gunmen have demanded N70million as ransom for the release of their victims
“They have called us that we should bring N70million as ransom before the people can be released. That is all I can say for now”, he added.
Meanwhile a Joint Security TaskForce has been deployed to the communities and are currently on the trail of the gunmen with a view to rescue the kidnapped victims.
The state police command is yet to issue a statement on the latest incident which is coming barely four days after security agents recorded a major breakthrough in their operation against the gunmen, killing about 70 of them in one week and recovered well over 500 rustled animals from Shiroro and Munya local government areas.
