Bandits kidnap over 50 at defence minister’s hometown

More than 50 women have been confirmed kidnapped in an attack on Saturday at the hometown of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, in Zamfara State.

Residents said the bandits conducted a house-to-house search and abducted mostly women and children in the Kakin-Dawa in the Gidan Goga district of Maradun Local Government Area.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted him on Tuesday, the police spokesperson in the state, Yazeed Abubakar, said he was yet to be briefed by the divisional police officer in the town due to poor telecommunication network.

But a resident of Kakin-Dawa, Hassan Ya’u, whose younger sister was among the abducted persons, said the gunmen invaded the community on motorcycles at about 1:30 a.m. and picked residents from house to house.

Mr Ya’u said after the night raid, residents found that more than 50 women, including married women and girls, were abducted.

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“We are appealing to the federal and Zamfara State governments to send more soldiers and security personnel to fight these bandits”, Mr Ya’u appealed.

A similar attack occurred in September, where the bandits abducted over 40 persons at Janboka, a community in the same Maradun LGA.

Residents said the terrorists struck despite the presence of local security guards in the community, lamenting that attacks in the area had become frequent.

Maradun is the hometown of the Minister of State for Defence, Mr Matawalle, who is the immediate past governor of the state.