Bandits Go on Rampage During Yuletide in FCT, Niger Communities

  •Kill 4, kidnap 39

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Bandits struck in some communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Niger State during the festive holidays, killing four persons and kidnapping 39 others.

The  FCT communities affected by the raid were Bwari and Kuduru, while Garam and Azu came under attack in Niger State.

Two days to Christmas, a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was killed while 13 persons were abducted by the bandits during an attack on Garam community near  Bwari while on Thursday, 18 persons were kidnapped at Kuduru, a community bordering Garam.

The bandits yesterday killed three persons during a raid on Azu and kidnapped eight others.

A resident of Garam, identified as  Mrs. Juliana, confirmed the attack.

She said the men armed with guns and other dangerous weapons, ransacked many houses looking for their targets in the dead of the night.

“The bandits presumably entered a wrong house, kidnapped two boys who later led them to the house of their target.

“When they got there, they kidnapped the entire family, but while leaving the house, they shot the man (their target), who is a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the presence of his wife and their three children,” she said.

The pastor’s wife, who is a teacher in one of the government secondary schools in Bwari, however, managed to escape from the attack with her five-month old baby.

The members of the vigilant group, who went after the bandits, rescued the pastor’s five-year-old son by the river side.

Another eyewitness said the bandits made their way to the house of a military personnel and demanded for his rifle and uniform from the wife.

“The wife told them that her husband was on duty. They, however, kidnapped two of his children,” she said.