Gunmen kidnap 50 wedding guests on Sokoto-Gusau Highway

About fifty wedding guests on Saturday evening were kidnapped by gunmen on Sokoto-Gusau Highway.

The victims were said to be returning from a wedding ceremony at Tambuwal town in Sokoto State when the gunmen attacked their Toyota Coaster bus and three other vehicles.

Narrating how they were attacked, a passenger, who narrowly escaped being kidnapped, Lawal Ja’o, said the gunmen attacked the Toyota Coaster bus and three other vehicles, in which two of them were private cars at Dogon Awo in Tureta Council Area.

He said: “We started hearing the sounds of gunshots before the first vehicle was hit. We kept hearing the voices and screams of our colleagues and friends but there was nothing we could do.

“After the arrival of security men, we came out of the bush and identified ourselves. But over 50 people were whisked away into the forest.”

Also, another passenger, Jabiru Shehu, confirmed that over 50 persons were abducted, saying: “We met four empty vehicles with some belongings including a phone and some travelling bags. We were there when some policemen from Tureta arrived at the scene.

“From what I heard, they were more than 50 people with the bandits because we were there also when some of the travellers that ran into the bush returned to the main road.”

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Sokoto State Police Command, Sanusi Abubakar, said he could not confirm the incident.

He said the command was yet to receive information on the incident but promised to contact the local division in the area to know if the attack was true.