Thirteen people are being held hostage by gunmen who attacked the Islamic mosque where they had gone to pray in Katsina state (northwest), Nigeria (northwest), police said yesterday, Wednesday.
On Saturday night, gunmen "attacked the mosque in Maigamji village and abducted 19 worshippers after shooting and wounding the imam and another worshipper" during evening prayers, said Gambo Isa, a police spokesman in Katsina state.
"Our men were thrown into pursuit of the miscreants and managed to rescue six of the worshippers at the hands of the kidnappers while efforts are underway to free the remaining 13," he added."
The two injured are being treated in a hospital, the spokesman explained.
Heavily armed gangs, which authorities generally refer to using the term bandits ("rogue elements", or "bandits"), have been terrorizing residents in central and northwestern Nigeria for more than a decade, committing cattle rustling, looting, kidnapping for ransom and murder. Their attacks have multiplied in recent years.
Although kidnappings for ransom are common, they are rarely committed in places of worship; the gangs seem to prefer to attack educational institutions or settlers.
Generally, hostages are released by the thugs after a ransom is paid.
The gangs operate with base camps mainly in the vast Rugu forest, which stretches across parts of Zamfara, Niger, Katsina and Kaduna states.
In November, 15 people were killed and many others injured in a series of attacks committed by bandits in villages in Kaduna state, according to authorities.
Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari, who is about to complete his second term in office, has been sharply criticized for generalizing insecurity in Africa's most populous country. Mr Buhari is constitutionally ineligible to run in the presidential election due to be held in two and a half months.
Source: APE-MPA
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