Some armed men kidnapped over 50 persons from Jouro Manu village in Gassol Local Government Area, Taraba State, and Damari town in the eastern part of Birnin-Gwari LGA of Kaduna State on Sunday. 

The gunmen killed three people in Jouro Manu village before kidnapping six others. 

Witnesses said that the attackers arrived around 2 pm on Sunday, shot at anyone on sight and left on motorcycles. Gambo Bajabu Kwache, acting spokesperson of the Taraba State Police Command, confirmed the assault on Jouro Manu on Monday. 

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“We are on top of the situation. We have made a deployment to the area to track down the attackers,” he was quoted to have said. 

The attack on Damari town was on a much larger scale. According to Daily Trust, the attackers kidnapped 50 people from the Kaduna community and this led to hundreds fleeing the area over the weekend. 

Bandits are known to attack Damari and its neighbours, looting, abducting and killing people. A source told reporters that the Ansaru terrorists had been protecting Damari from attacks but had to relocate from the area after a clash with bandits. This deadly clash was the catalyst for the latest attack on Damari, the source explained. 

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“For now, the bandits are in charge and are having a field day attacking our people,” the source told reporters. 

“Our people see the Ansaru fighters as protectors because they don’t attack or steal our property.  They only preach their kind of religion and urge our people, especially the youths, to join them. They also lead prayers like during the Eid and arbitrate over land, marriage and other issues.” 

A Damari resident said that the bandits were “going house to house carting away foodstuffs and people’s property as if there is no government”.