Armed men suspected to be bandits have abducted 17 members of a family after invading their village, Udawa in Chikun local government area of Kaduna state this weekend.
The gunmen in two separate attacks kidnapped a total of 21 persons.
A community leader in Udawa village identified as Liman Hussaini confirmed the abduction to journalists.
Hussaini said the gunmen arrived in their village and began shooting sporadically into the air.
According to the community leader, four persons were abducted on Friday, September 11 while 17 others were abducted on Saturday morning, September 12 while on their way to the farm.
“Yesterday, a family of 21 were going to the farm, but about one and a half kilometres away from home, they were attacked by gunmen. Four of them sustained serious injuries from gunshots while 17 of them were abducted.
Also, on Friday, at about 7am, four people were abducted while on their way to the farm. You know there is serious hunger. People are finding it very difficult to feed, but now that the maize is done, many families depend on it to feed. We have started harvesting maize which we use for feeding because there is no food.
The head of this family of 21 was riding on a bike with one of his sons and two daughters to the farm when the bandits opened fire on them after abducting 17 members of the family.
The man was shot on the leg; the son was shot in the mouth. One of the daughters was shot on the chest; the other daughter was shot on the hand. The four of them were taken to a hospital in Kaduna.” he said
He said the gunmen went away with the victims before security agents got to the village.
The Kaduna state police command is yet to react to the recent development.
