No fewer than 20 people have been abducted by bandits who attacked the Furfuri community in Bungudu local government area of Zamfara State on Sunday night.
Among those abducted were two wives of a former accountant-general of Zamfara State, Abu-Bello Furfuri.
Sources said the two women, Hajiya Khadija and Hajiya Ade, were later rescued by members of a vigilante group in the area.
According to an online newspaper, two of the former accountant-general’s female children and some domestic staff are still being held by the bandits.
The two abducted daughters are Zulaihat Abu-Bello and Zainab Abu-Bello.
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Furfuri community is less than 10 kilometres away from Gusau, the state capital.
A resident of Bungudu town, Abdullahi Shehu, said the bandits attacked the community around 11 p.m. on Sunday and went straight to the former accountant-general’s residence.
“He (former accountant-general) lives with his family in Furfuri even when he was in office, so it’s possible the attack was a deliberate one because they went straight to his house when they entered the community,” he said.
Though Shehu said Furfuri was at home when the bandits struck, he said the man was helped by one of his domestic staff to leave the house through a back exit.
He said other houses were attacked. In one house, eight siblings were reportedly abducted by the bandits.
“What we know now is that 18 residents are with the bandits including Zulaihat and Zainab and three other domestic staff taken from the former AG (accountant-general) house. Seven of them were taken but with the rescue of the two wives, he now has five people to save. The remaining 13 people were picked from other houses. They could be more than that but for now, this is what we’ve gathered.”
It was gathered from an anonymous member of the former accountant-general’s family that his two wives were, however, rescued by a team of vigilance members in the area.
He said immediately after the attack, the vigilance members mobilised their men and followed the bandits.
