In a disturbing incident in Zamfara State, bandits have kidnapped Magaji Sa’idu, the village head of Rakyabu village in Tsafe Local Government Area, and Malam Abdullahi, the Chief Imam of the same village. The abduction occurred on Sunday night, with the criminals demanding a hefty N5 million ransom for their release.
Amadu Mohammed, a local resident, shared with The PUNCH that the bandits sent a ransom message, requesting the N5 million. The community, however, managed to raise only N500,000 through donations. Despite turning over this amount to the bandits, they refused to release the village head and the Chief Imam, insisting on the remaining N4.5 million.
Mohammed expressed the community’s dire situation, stating that raising such a substantial amount was nearly impossible, especially since the bandits had already stolen and rustled all the animals that could have been sold to generate additional funds.
With no resources left to sell, the community is appealing to the state government and security agencies to intervene and secure the release of the abducted village head and Chief Imam.
As of the time of this report, the spokesperson for the state police command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, was unavailable for comment.