About 11 residents of the Isapa community in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State have been abducted. They were kidnapped on Monday evening during an attack on the community by armed bandits.
NewsBits recalls that 38 victims were abducted last week by armed bandits in the Eruku community of the same local government. The attack claimed three lives. The victims were reported to have been released on Sunday.
In the latest attack, which occurred around 6:00 p.m., according to security sources, the armed bandits in large numbers stormed the community with a large herd of cattle, firing shots indiscriminately. An elderly woman was reportedly hit by a stray bullet during the incident.
A community leader revealed that 11 people were abducted, with seven victims belonging to the same family, while the kidnapped victims included a pregnant woman, two nursing mothers, and several young children. The abducted individuals were identified as: Talatu Kabiru (F,20), Magaji (M,6), Kande (F,5), Hadiza (F,10), Mariam (F,6), and Saima (F,5).
Others included a housewife, Habibat, Fatima Yusufu, a pregnant woman, Sarah Sunday (F,22), Lami Fidelis (F,23, nursing mother), and Haja Na Allah (Nursing mother). Eyewitnesses claimed that the attackers moved through parts of the town, leaving bullet holes in walls and doors, while expended AK-47 shells were found scattered across the community after the gunmen fled.
Residents remain in fear as security agencies and local vigilantes intensify efforts to track the kidnappers and rescue the abducted victims. Authorities were yet to issue official statements on the incident at the time of this report on Tuesday.
