Less than 48-hours after the release of 344 schoolboys of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in northwestern Katsina state from their abductors, ARISE News understands gunmen on Saturday night abducted 80 students of Islamiyya schools and four others in Mahuta town, Dandume LGA, of the state.
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The Islamic students were on their way back home after they attended a maulid procession (in remembrance of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday) at Unguwar Al-Kasim, a nearby village. But the police the police says they have now been rescued.
Spokesman of the Katsina State Police command Gambo Isah told ARISE News that the students were rescued by a combined team of policemen and local vigilante group in the area.
Isah, in a statement he later released said investigation is still ongoing as search parties are also combing the area with a view of arresting some of the bandits who were injured during a gun duel.
“On 19/12/2020 at about 2200hrs, a distress call was received by DPO Dandume, that some Islamiyya Students of Hizburrahim Islamiyya, Mahuta village, Dandume LGA of Katsina state, numbering about Eighty (80) , while on their way back from Maulud occasion celebrated at Unguwan Alkasim village, Dandume to Mahuta village, were accosted by bandits who had already kidnapped four(4) persons and rustled twelve (12) cows from Danbaure village, Funtua LGA, trying to escape into the forest,” the statement read.
The state police spokesman further said: “On receipt of the report, the DPO led Operations “Puff Adder, Sharan Daji and Vigilante group to the area and engaged the bandits into a fierce gun duel.
“Subsquently, the teams succeeded in dislodging the bandits and rescued all the eighty four (84) kidnapped victims and recovered all the twelve rustled cows. Search parties are still combing the area with a view of arresting the injured bandits and/or recovery of their dead bodies. Investigation is on going.”
By Abel Ejikeme