Parents of 39 children kidnapped by bandits while working on a farm in Katsina State’s Faskari Local Government Area have pleaded with the government to help them.
According to a source, the bandits attacked the farm where the children were working on Sunday in large numbers.
According to the source, the Mairuwa community was the hardest hit by the bandits’ attack. He explained that when the bandits surrounded the farm, the terrorists began shooting sporadically.
A representative of the farm paid the bandits N1 million as a levy before mobilizing the children, according to the source, who also explained that most of the adults working on the farm with the children were able to flee during the attack.
“They demanded N3m from the owner in order 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; unfortunately, the bandits did not accept that,” the source said. In our village, Mairuwa, alone, we have 33 victims, including young ladies who are about to marry.”
He stated that the farm’s owner is a Funtua resident, but his representative is in Mairuwa village, and that as he speaks, the bandits have called one of the victims’ cell phone, demanding a ransom of N30 million.
He went on to say that they (the bandits) claimed they were at the farm to abduct the owner or his representative, and that because they couldn’t meet either of them, they decided to kidnap those who worked for them.
SP Gambo Isah, the Katsina police spokesman, assured that the police were working with the state government and other security agencies to rescue the victims.
Six of the victims were also freed on Tuesday, according to reports.
