Terrorists attack the imam and other worshipers at the Katsina mosque and kidnap dozens of people

Terrorists stormed a mosque in Maigamji hamlet on the Funtua-Dandume route in Katsina’s Funtua Local Government Area, disrupting Saturday’s Isha’i prayer by worshipers.

According to A Lawal Maigamji, a former councilor of Maigamji ward in Katsina’s Funtua LGA, when the terrorists arrived, they opened fire on two persons, including the Imam conducting the prayers.

Malam Yusha’u, the Imam, and Hussaini Jamo, a worshipper, were the two people shot, he said, adding that they were both being treated at a hospital in Funtua.

After shooting Imam Yusha’u and Hussaini Jamo, they encircled the mosque during Isha’i congregational prayer, Lawal Maigamji claimed. They then kidnapped 18 individuals and fled with them into the jungle.

Four of the kidnapped victims, he said, managed to escape from their captors while being transported.

In a similar issue, it is claimed that at least 31 persons were kidnapped early on Friday in the villages of Karare and Kokiya in the Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

A group of roughly 40 motorcycle-riding terrorists raided the village, where they killed one person and kidnapped a number of residents, including women and children.

Some of the kidnapped people were reportedly students from Kokiya village who were en route to the Government Day Secondary School in Karare.

Residents of Karare and Kokiya villages had not yet tallied the number of kidnapped victims at the time this story was being written.

Speaking in Katsina, some locals voiced concern about the rising number of kidnappings for ransom, livestock rustlings, and brutal murders of innocent people.

When asked for confirmation, SP Gambo Isah, the police spokesman, said he will speak with the local DPO and get back to our reporter.

The chairman of Batsari Local Government Area, Yusuf Yanji, acknowledged the kidnapping of certain citizens but denied the reports of the students’ kidnapping, claiming the rumors were untrue.

Daily Trust