Bandits Abduct 39 Children From Katsina Farm

Bandits have abducted 39 children working on a farm in a rural community in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Daily Trust reported that the children including boys and girls were abducted on Sunday, October 30, by the bandits who shot sporadically during the attack.

A source told the publication that a representative of the farm owner had mobilised the children after paying a levy of N1m to the bandits. He also revealed that most of the adults working on the farm were able to escape during the attack.

He said;

“They demanded N3m from the owner for him to be able to harvest his produce, he gave them N1 million as part payment and decided to begin the work before completing the money, but unfortunately the bandits did not accept that. In our village, Mairuwa, alone we have 33 among the victims including young ladies who are due for marriage.”

Another resident of Mairuwa community who corroborated this, said;

“The owner of the farm is a Funtua resident, but his representative is residing here in Mairuwa village. As we speak, the bandits have used the cell phone of one of the victims to call demanding a ransom of N30 million.

“They said they were at the farm to abduct the owner or his representative but because they did not meet either of them they decided to kidnap those working for them.”

It was also learnt that the house of the farm representative was filled with parents of the victims on Monday October 31, who were lamenting the unfortunate incident, with some blaming him for risking the lives of their children, a situation that prompted the police to detain him before later releasing him on bail.

The police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah who confirmed the incident, said there's an ongoing effort to rescue the victims.

It was also learnt that six of the victims regained freedom on Tuesday, November 1.