Bandits yesterday attacked a Jumuat Mosque in Zugu community of Gummi local government area of Zamfara state and abducted dozens of worshippers in a move that has sparked massive outrage.
Residents who spoke to reporters shortly after the attacked narrated that the armed men hid their guns inside their clothes and stormed the mosque when the Imam was about to start delivering sermon.
According to reports the marauders reportedly told those outside the mosque to go inside.
“When they laid siege, they asked people who were outside to go into the mosque while informing the worshippers that they had come to negotiate the release of some captives with them.
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‘No one saw them with guns and many people mistook them for worshippers. Nobody paid attention to them because they hid their guns. However, shortly after they moved inside the mosque, they brought out the rifles and fired some warning shots. They herded the congregants in to bush but some of the worshippers managed to scramble out of the mosque to safety. The muezzin was among those kidnapped but the Imam was able to escape the assault.
‘Some those who were outside the mosque were also abducted because unknown to them that some armed men took positions outside. They fired several gunshots into the air and then moved to forest with the captives,’ a resident who simply identified himself as Abubakar said.
The spokesman of the state police command SP Muhammad Shehu said he had not received report about the attack but promised to get back to our correspondent.
Meanwhile, palpable outrage has greeted the release of the ranking of Nigeria as the second most terrorised and attacked country in the world only second to Iraq by the global Terrorism Research/ Analysis Organisation.
Several groups and eminent Nigerians, who shared their thoughts on the ranking decried the dangerous dive insecurity has taken and tasked the government on decisive action.
