In a Wednesday morning attack on commuters, terrorists blocked the Katsina-Jibia highway, killed one passenger, and kidnapped many others.
According to sources who spoke to newsmen, a corpse was discovered at the location of the incident near Kadobe village.
The Katsina-Jibia motorway connects Zamfara State and Maradi in the Niger Republic. Over 18 security checkpoints are present. Along the route are prison and military barracks as well.
Nasir Mustapha, whose siblings were kidnapped, claimed that at about 5 o’clock, the attackers blocked the route.
On their route from Katsina to Jibia, his sister Fiddausi Mustapha and brother Nasir Kacilu were kidnapped.
“He (Kacilu) was returning from Dutsi and he called Fiddausi who was in Katsina to join him so they could return home (Jibia) together. I was in Katsina too when they left. I called them around 4:17 p.m and they said they were going together. That was the last time I spoke with them,” he said.
Kacilu is an official of the Dutsi Local Government Area of the state.
Mustapha said the bandits contacted the family around 10:00 p.m. and demanded a ransom before their relatives would be released.
“My brother called Nasir’s line in the night and the bandits answered. They promised to get back to us to negotiate the ransom but also told us to keep praying,” he said
Another source, who sought anonymity, said the attackers came on six motorcycles and started shooting sporadically, forcing the two vehicles to stop.
“I was coming from the Jibia side and I saw them. I stopped my motorcycle and returned but they were six motorcycles with two bandits each.”
The spokesperson of Katsina Police Command, Gambo Isa, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him for comments.
Terrorists, locally called bandits, have intensified attacks on motorists. Federal and local highways have been serially attacked, with motorists being killed and others abducted.
These terrorists have been abducting residents in the North-west and a part of North-central Nigeria leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of people and displacement of millions of others.