Bandits have abducted scores of worshippers in one of the mosques in Tsafe town, the headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

An indigene of the area simply identified as Garba said that the bandits invaded the mosque around 5 am on Thursday when the people were about to start the morning prayer.

According to him, ”we were about to start the morning prayer today, Thursday, when suddenly they (bandits) entered the mosque and directed everybody to come out and follow them.

“Everybody scampered for safety but the bandits blocked everywhere and warned that they would kill anyone who tried to run away.

“Luckily, I was able to jump from the window and ran quickly into one of the uncompleted buildings near the mosque where I hid.”

He stated that the bandits left their motorcycles far away from the mosque so that the worshippers would not notice their movement.

“They came on foot, leaving their motorcycles outside the town so that they would not attract the attention of people in the area.

“They later marched the worshippers to their motorcycles and took them into the forest,” he stated.

According to Garba, the number of abducted worshippers could be more than 30.

He added that “the mosque was filled to capacity when the bandits struck and very few of us were able to escape.”

One of the community leaders said on condition of anonymity that members of the Community Protection Guards are on the trail of the bandits to see if they could rescue the kidnapped worshippers.

Tsafe Local Government is one of the local government areas in the state worst hit by banditry.

The Tsafe-Gusau Road which is 56km has now become the most dangerous spot in the state where people are being kidnapped daily.

Scores of bandits lost their lives a few days ago within the local government when two rival groups clashed.

All efforts to get comment from the spokesperson for the state police command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, proved abortive, as he could not be reached on the phone after several attempts. (The Punch)