From John Adams, Minna
Terrorists on Sunday set two tankers loaded with diesel ablaze in Saminaka, Lapai Local Government Area, Niger State.
The gunmen who invaded the community at about 8:00 pm on Sunday also abducted three women in the process and went away with them.
The three women, among them the owner of the restaurant, Zainab Usman, and two of her workers were whisked away by the gunmen.
According to our source, it was in the process of the sporadic shooting by the gunmen that the two diesel tankers were hit by bullets and went into flame with the entire content and the tankers burnt.
One of the residents, Mohammed Isah said that the community has been thrown into panic since on Sunday following the attack by the gunmen.
“When we heard the gunshots, we started running in search of safety. The bandits were just shooting up and down. Saminaka is not a big village, the entire community has been thrown into panic with this recent kidnapping”, he said.
In another incident at Allawa community in Shiroro local government area of the state, gunmen numbering about 50, were said to have invaded a village, about 500 meters from the community on Friday at about 11:00 am, killing one man and abducting eight women, including three children of the same father.
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The gunmen according to a source close to the community told our correspondent that the women were taken to a worship place in the village and were gang raped one after the other before taking them away.
Our source disclosed that the gunmen have established contact with the husbands and relations of the women and are asking for N2 million ransom for the release of each of the women.
A man identified as Mallam Kabiru was shot and killed as he tried to escape when the gunmen invaded the village and were chasing the people to be kidnapped.
He said the majority of those kidnapped were women because they could not run like the men, adding that a man also died of shock after three of his children were taken away by the gunmen .
Although he said that there are soldiers stationed in Allawa, they could not respond to a distress call by the people, causing the gunmen to have a field day and taking their time to rape the women.
The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the attack on the Saminaka community and the abduction of three women.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, also confirmed that two loaded diesel tankers were hit by stray bullets adding that the police tactical teams and vigilante members have been drafted to the area.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue the abducted victims,” he stated.