Gunmen, locally called bandits, killed the wife of a village chief and wounded several people in the Isa local government area of Sokoto state in an attack on Saturday afternoon.
Fifty-seven people were abducted from two villages: Gebe and Alkammu. 50 were kidnapped in Gebe and seven in Alkammu.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the wife of the Gebe village chief was killed after gunmen attacked a wedding.
A source, who asked not to be named out of concern for his safety, said it appears the bandits were attracted by the movement of out-of-town wedding guests to Gebe.
“There was a wedding ceremony yesterday at the village leader’s house. Most of those who were kidnapped were mostly from the city of Sokoto and Isa, who were in the community to celebrate with the monarch,” he said.
The source said that the village chief’s wife was killed for refusing to be kidnapped.
“She was the only person killed as far as we know now. And I was told by the displaced people of the town that she told the bandits that she would not follow them to their hideouts. However, they injured several people in the attack because they possibly started shooting when they entered Gebe to scare people.”
Nuhu Shehu, another source, said the Gebe village chief confirmed that 50 people were kidnapped.
“Because there is no mobile network, it will be difficult to get your answer quickly. So we only got to know what was going on when they got to Sokoto or Wurno. Now we hear that 50 people, mostly from Sokoto and Isa, who attended the ceremony were kidnapped and his (Village Head) wife was killed,” he said.
Alkamu’s attack
The Alkammu community in the Wurno Local Government Area was also attacked on Friday night and seven people, including a village leader, were kidnapped.
Yusuf Gidan Dare, a local journalist in the area, told PREMIUM TIMES that the attackers had stolen cattle in the village.
“No one was killed in the Alkammu attack,” Gidan Dare said. “But they kidnapped seven residents, including the Dangaladiman Alkammu (a high-level traditional incumbent) and six others. I learned that they have not yet contacted the family for the ransom payment,” he said.
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