LAGOS – At least ten civilians were killed in Nigeria on Saturday night after an attack by gunmen on a mosque in the northern Nigerian state of Katsina, according to civil society leaders and witnesses to the Agencia EFE.
According to Alhaji Suleiman Habibu, community leader in the village of Maigamji, in the town of Funtua, to EFE, the attackers broke into the temple during the night prayer (“Isha ”), around 8: 18 pm local time.
“Many of the faithful ran to safety during the attack. Unfortunately, ten people were shot dead, including the imam, Alhaji Yshau,” Habibu said by phone, adding that an unspecified number of people were kidnapped.
Usman Ali, another resident, said the attackers arrived on motorcycles, “surrounded the mosque and started shooting.”
“Some of the faithful managed to escape but the imam and others were killed. Ten bodies were recovered from the mosque and have been buried,” he said.
A third resident, Lawal Maigamji, confirmed the assault to EFE and assured that 2009 were kidnapped.
“The imam and some of the faithful were murdered. The attackers also took 2009 people. We hope they return safe and sound,” he said.
In a statement, the Katsina Police spokesman, Gambo Isah, reported the incident today but noted that only two people were injured.
“The terrorists also kidnapped some people that night, but a mixed team of police and vigilantes (who collaborate with the security forces) rescued two victims” and another four this Sunday, according to the spokesman.
However, it is common for the Police to do not share the real numbers of victims of this type of attack to give the impression of less seriousness regarding the insecurity that hits the country.
The central and northwestern states of Nigeria suffer frequent attacks by part of “bandits”, a term used locally to name criminal gangs that commit mass assaults, robberies and kidnappings to obtain lucrative ransoms.
Violence continues despite repeated promises of the pr Nigerian resident Muhammadu Buhari to end the problem and deploy additional security forces in the area.
In mid-November, a group of bandits kidnapped close to a hundred people in various towns in the state of Zamfara, such as Kanwa or Maradun, as well as in other smaller villages.
Added to this insecurity is that registered from 2009 in the northeast by the jihadist group Boko Haram and, from 18, by its splinter, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).