Armed bandits have reportedly attacked Fugge community in Rijau Council Area of Niger State, kidnapping the village head, Mallam Abdullahi Zaure, and forty nine other residents.
Also, unspecified number of cattles were said to have been rustled by the bandits in the attack that was carried out on Friday afternoon.
The bandits, who reportedly invaded the village on several motorcycles, was said to be shooting sporadically to scare the residents during the attack.
A resident, who preferred anonymity, said some fighter jets were seen hovering over the communities to locate the bandits and to attack them.
Explaining that the fighter jets succeeded in attacking the terrorists, he said: “During the attack, the fighter jets descended on the terrorists when they were moving with the abductees which resulted in the death of several of the terrorists and the rustled cattle.
“We saw some bodies of the terrorists and corpses of cows that were killed or injured as the result of the airstrike in the forest.
“After the attack on them, the surviving terrorists fled into their hideouts which are located in the forest bordering Niger State and Kebbi State.
“The terrorists have begun contacting the families of the abductees and they are demanding fuel, motorcycles, and money as ransom for the release of the abductees.”
The incident could not be verified from the police authorities in the state as newsmen could not reach the spokesman for the State Police Command, Abiodun Wasiu, on phone.
