Rampaging gunmen in the wee hours of Monday, abducted at least 12 persons from Anguwan Yusuf in Kpada community of Lapai Local Government Area, Niger State.
According to discrete sources, bandits’ operations in the area are becoming frequent. The plan is to capture the Azza community and displace the locals, they believe.
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The sources told WikkiTimes that the bandits operate about 10 camps in the axis “and they are up to 200.”
“We are pleading for government intervention, and any individual with the ability to dislodge the enemies from their hideout,” said a resident. “This issue has gone out of hand. Therefore whoever has every other means should come to our aid.”
THE EARLIER SIGNAL
A week before, the marauders sent a threat letter through the office of the vigilantes to seven communities in the axis.
Subsequently, leadership of the communities asked their subjects to contribute N140,000 — N20,000 each — to hire men and women with “black power” to fight the bandits.
According to sources in one of the tensed communities, the levy was to boost the “witches’ morale” including some retired “military personnel.”
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The communities include, Duma, Nassarawa, Kuchi-Kebba, Ebbo, Miropka, Adalami and Gupa — all in Lapai LGA.
“For over a week, our village and the neighboring villages have been thrown into fear. Last week there were gunshots targeting two vigilantes,” a source said, adding one of them was eventually killed and the other was injured.
WikkiTimes also learnt that a boy simply identified as ‘Daddy’ in one of the affected communities was arrested for writing to the vigilante office in the community, enlisting some of the vigilantes to be eliminated soon.
He would later be taken to Lapai Police Division from where he was released a few days later.
“Daddy was later released after confessing that it was just an empty threat from him,” a vigilante member told WikkiTimes.
Prior to this, Daddy was said to have deserted home for over three months. Also, no one knows his whereabouts after he was released recently.
However, effort to get the copy of the written letter sent to the villagers proved abortive as vigilantes said they could not release the letter except with a directive from the police.
An enquiry sent to Wasiu Abiodun, the spokesperson for Niger Police Command had not been responded to at press time.
Earlier on September 25, WikkiTimes contacted Abiodun in respect to the rumoured letter, but he promised to revert after a due verification. However, he failed to.
