Four people have been killed and 150 others kidnapped including two babies aged six and eight months, when bandits attacked Dan Isa village in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area (LGA) of Zamfara State on Sunday.
Dan Isa is situated less than 14 kilometres from Gusau, the state capital.
The attack comes seven days after bandits freed 46 villagers of Dogon Kade following the payment of N21 million ransom.
An anonymous Dan Isa local, whose wife and son were abducted, revealed this, adding that the bandits invaded them at 3pm on Sunday, operating for six hours.
He said the gunmen came on about 150 motorbikes, each carrying three others, adding that they shot sporadically, causing residents to flee for safety
Another anonymous local said the wife of Wamban Dan Isa, Alhaji Bello Halilu, Hajiya Rakiya, was kidnapped, while other women were wounded in the house.
Two wives of Wamban Dan Isa’s younger brother, Malama Luba and Malama Talatu, were also kidnapped, he added.
On Monday last week, bandits kidnapped many people in different communities of Zurmi LGA in the state.
The bandits imposed almost N150 million as levies on several communities, and told residents to contribute and that amount before they would be allowed to access their farmlands.
The affected villages and the levies imposed on them are: Yan Dolen Kaura, N15 million; Gidan Zagi, N15 million; Kanwa, N20 million; Kaiwa Lamba, N26 million; Gidan Dan Zara, N22 million; Jinkirawa, N16 million; Dumfawa, N16 million; Ruguje, N7 million; Babani, N3 million and Gidan Duwa, N4 million.
The residents of the villages said they were under pressure to raise those funds within the period specified by the bandits.
It was gathered that some villages have paid their levies, while others are scrambling to gather the required amounts.
A local of Zurmi town, Malam Yunusa Musa, told Daily Trust that the levies are effective from this week.
The State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Shehu Dalijan, said the police were yet to receive a report on the Sunday attack, but added that there were five attacks in Gusau last week, with 11 people abducted.
He said police killed some bandits in Damba, on the outskirts of Gusau, on Sunday, while foiling a banditry operation.
Dalijan assured that security had been increased in the state capital, with 54 patrol vehicles deployed for surveillance.
He appealed to the public to provide the police with useful information to help combat banditry in the state.
