Bandits have killed three persons along Bangi, and Kotonkoro communities in Mariga Local Council of Niger State.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday morning at about 9am, followed a blockade of a major highway in the area by the armed men, who shot sporadically.
A car owner, Alhaji Shehu Kotonkoro, told newsmen that on the faithful day, his driver, a girl, as well as one person, identified as Alhaji Ibrahim, who were passengers, ran into a roadblock on their way to the market and were instantly killed.
Similarly, another vehicle conveying bread was also attacked during the operation.
Kotonkoro, who raised concern over the alleged shortage of security agents in the area, added that the attack happened just about five kilometres from Kotonkoro village, pointing out that the bandits also abducted two rice farmers harvesting their crop some two kilometres from the town.
He added that students from the community were advised to return home.
The council chairman, Alhaji Abbas Musa Kasuwa-Garba, confirmed also that three persons were killed during the attack.
He explained that the consistent attacks were aided by the porous border shared with Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna states through the Birinin Gwari axis.
IN a related development, hoodlums have abducted the Zamfara State Coordinator of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Alhaji Bashir Abara Gummi, along with several others on the busy Funtua-Gusau road.
Reports indicate that the bandits ambushed multiple vehicles, including the one carrying Gummi, who was travelling to Abuja for an official assignment.
A security source said the assailants opened fire on moving vehicles, tragically resulting in the death of two individuals at the scene before proceeding to abduct the coordinator and several other travellers.
âThe bandits blocked the road, causing several vehicles to fall victim to their aggression. They fired indiscriminately and took several people hostage,â he said.
But the State Auditor-General, Alhaji Abubakar Dan Maliki, narrowly escaped the offensive.
