Francis Sardauna in Katsina
Suspected bandits have kidnapped four officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The four customs officers, according to residents of the area, were abducted at a checkpoint in Dan-Bedi village along Jibia-Batsari road about 10.12 a.m.
The abduction came barely 24 hours after the murder of Umar Isah, a senior lecturer with the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria by bandits in Malumfashi LGA of the state.
Confirming the abduction of the Customs officers to THISDAY yesterday, a resident of Jibia who craved anonymity, said seven bandits reportedly arrived at the checkpoint, fired gunshots in the air and whisked the victims away.
He said: “The bandits on motorcycles arrived the customs checkpoint this morning (yesterday) and seized the officers weapons and shot sporadically to scare residents and kidnapped the officers alongside many motorists who were on their way to Batsari.
“The bandits later went north-east and disappeared into the forest with the officers and the motorists. And other commercial drivers who escaped the attack ran to Jibia town.”
When contacted, the spokesman of the Katsina State Customs Area Command, Mr. Peter Duniya, said he was on leave but a credible source within the command said they got the information of the incident, but were yet to confirm it.
He said: “We got information about the incident this morning (Wednesday) and investigation is ongoing to know whether the officers were kidnapped but I am not the right person to talk to you.”
It was also learnt that bandits attacked a viewing centre in Jibia on Tuesday night and killed two people, leaving many with varying degree of injuries.
Idris Usman, who survived the attack, said: “We were watching a football match when the bandits attacked us. They killed two people and abducted four others.”
