Bandits Abduct Catholic Priest, Seminarian In Niger

Barely 24 hours after suspected bandits killed two people in Zazzaga in Munya local government area of Niger State, a reverend father and a seminarian at St. Peter’s Catholic Church have been abducted at Zedna Village in Tafa local government area.

The victims were identified as Rev. Fr Paul Sanogo and Mahinini Dominis (seminarian).

The bandits reportedly stormed the village shooting into the air randomly to scare the villagers at midnight till the early hours of yesterday, and invaded the residence of the two clergymen and abducted them.

Sources said they went away with their victims towards the mountainous part of the village that shares boundary with Garam, the headquarters of the ward and Kargarko in Kaduna State.

A resident of Garam told LEADERSHIP Friday on condition of anonymity that criminals use the thick vegetation around the village as a camp to evade security operatives in both Niger and Kaduna states.

The police public relations officer in Niger State, Wasiu Abiodun said the “Police tactical team led by DPO Tafa Division have been dispatched to the scene.”

He said, “ However, the location of the church was discovered to be on the outskirts of the town, which is about an hour drive from Sabon-Wuse, and surrounded with mountains and forests, close to the Kagarko area of Kaduna State.”

Abiodun said other seminarians in the area have been advised “to relocate temporarily while investigation into the incident is ongoing with a view to rescuing the victims and arresting the perpetrators of the crime.”