Unspecified number of students of the Federal University of Gusau in Zamfara State were abducted by bandits in the early hours of Friday.
An indigene of Sabon Gida village, Abubakar Sani, disclosed that the bandits, who came in large numbers, stormed the students’ off-campus residences in the village, taking away mainly females.
Another resident of the community identified as Nazeer Sabon-Gida, told newsmen that the gunmen invaded the community around 3am and started shooting sporadically.
Sabon-Gida disclosed that three students’ hostels were attacked and all the students in the hostels were taken away by the bandits.
He said: “They entered the town around 3 a.m. and started shooting indiscriminately.
“We have yet to confirm the number of students kidnapped because the bandits entered three hostels and kidnapped all the students there. It is difficult to ascertain their numbers now”.
Another source revealed that the bandits engaged with troops of the Nigerian Army in a fierce gun battle but that did not stop the bandits from escaping with the kidnapped victims.
“They were seriously engaged with the army troops but the way these bandits operate, they will divide themselves into two, one group will move with the kidnapped victims while the other will stay behind to protect the first group.
“The first group had left with the students while the second group engaged the army in a gun duel”, he said.
Some students at the university in June protested the consistent kidnapping of their mates in Sabon-Gida and Damba.
Sabon-Gida village is a community opposite the main campus of the Federal University of Gusau that is about 20km from the state capital, Gusau.
