Reports reaching the desk of Africa Today News, New York has it that bandits no fewer than 80 children in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State have been abducted by bandits.
According to a report from BBC Hausa, the children, between the ages of 12 and 17, were kidnapped on Friday morning.
Parents of the victims said they were in the bush in the early hours when the assailants rounded them up and marched them away into the forest.
Bandits have continued their activities in the troubled Zamfara despite several government’s interventions to tackle the criminal activity.
Hundreds of schoolchildren have been kidnapped. Some were later released upon ransom payment.
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The abductors are yet to reach the parents to make any demands as of the time BBC reported the kidnap.
In a related development, gunmen have abducted Onje Gye-Wado, former deputy governor of Nasarawa state, during an attack on his village.
Ramhan Nansel, police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the development in a statement on Friday.
Gye-Wado, who is also the former dean of the faculty of law, Nasarawa State University, was kidnapped in the early hours of the day.
Nansel said the gunmen abducted the former deputy governor at his residence in Gwagi village, Wamba LGA of the state.
‘The commissioner of police, Nasarawa state command, CP Maiyaki Baba has reassured the general public, especially the family of Prof Onje Gye-Wado that effort is ongoing to rescue the victim who was abducted by yet to be Identified hoodlums in the early hours of Friday, as police tactical operatives have intensified search and rescue operation,’ the statement reads.
‘Information received by the command indicated that on 7/4/2023 at about 12:30am, unknown gunmen invaded Gwagi village in Wamba LGA, broke into the residence of one Prof. Onje Gye-Wado and abducted him to an unknown destination.
‘Upon receipt of the information, police operatives attached to Wamba division swiftly moved to the scene, but the hoodlums had fled with the victim before their arrival.
‘The commissioner of police further mobilised and deployed reinforcement comprising police tactical teams, military, vigilante, and local hunters to complement the ongoing search to rescue the hostage hale and hearty and arrest the perpetrators of the act.’
The police spokesperson said the commissioner has urged the public to report any useful information that can help the command in the rescue operation.