A band of terrorists, reported to be made up of over 100 men, on Sunday stormed Tashar Nagulle, a community in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State, and abducted 31 residents.
Those abducted include women, children and men, a resident told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday.
Batsari has seen a resurgence in terrorist activities in recent weeks, featuring twin attacks on security formations last week. In one of the attacks, two mobile police officers were killed by the terrorists who burnt down two vehicles of the Nigerian Army in the other attack.
PREMIUM TIMES spoke to two residents of Tashar Nagulle, both of whom demanded anonymity for security reasons.
A religious leader said the attackers surrounded the community before some of them entered through the main exit that leads to the main road.
“I was sitting outside with some of my friends around 9 p.m. when we first heard gunshots. We stood up to run from the place but the terrorists shouted that we should stop because they were security agents sent to protect us,” the religious leader told PREMIUM TIMES on the phone.
He said the terrorists left their motorcycles outside the community and trekked in.
“They knew that when they said they were policemen or soldiers sent to protect us, we would believe them. And that was what happened,” he said.
According to the source, residents began gathering at the community centre, not knowing that the intruders, some of whom wore military camouflage, were not soldiers.
Another resident said he didn’t stop running despite what the terrorists said because he felt unsure of what to do.
“I ran into my house and went straight under the bed to hide. Normally, when terrorists come into our communities, we hide under the bed because it’s safer than running into the bush, to avoid running into some of the terrorists stationed outside,” he said.
The religious leader said after the terrorists had circled them, they told them to follow them into the forest. “That was when I knew they were not security agents.”
He said he slipped out of the group and ran back into his house.
“As of now (Monday morning), we have counted 31 people who have been taken. Some of them were abducted when they ran outside into the bush because several terrorists were stationed outside the community,” he said.
He added that the divisional police officer in Batsari and some vigilante group members arrived in the community “very late because the terrorists had left already.”
The police spokesperson in the state, Abubakar – Sadik Aliyu, could not be reached for comment. An SMS sent to him has not been responded to.
Several communities in North-west Nigeria have become vulnerable to terrorist attacks in recent years.
Thousands of people have been killed while about a million have been displaced in Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Sokoto states.