Terrorists kidnapped 39 children working on a farm in the Mairuwa community of Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State on Sunday.
It was learned that the bandits in their numbers invaded the community and proceeded to abduct at least 39 children who were working on the farm.
The gunmen were said to have surrounded the farm and started shooting sporadically before abducting the laborers including boys and girls.
According to a source, Mairuwa community was the worst hit in the attack by the bandits. He explained that the terrorists started shooting sporadically when they (bandits) surrounded the farm.
The source added that N1 million was paid to the bandits as a levy before mobilizing the children by a representative of the farm, explaining that most of the adults working on the farm with the children were able to escape during the attack.
The source said, “The bandits demanded N3m from the farm owner 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, but unfortunately the bandits did not accept that. In our village, Mairuwa, alone we have 33 among the victims including young ladies who are due for marriage.”
He stated that the owner of the farm is a Funtua resident, but his representative is residing in Mairuwa village, saying that as he speaks, the bandits have used the cell phone of one of the victims to call demanding a ransom of N30 million.
He added that they (bandits) said they were at the farm to abduct the owner or his representative, stressing that since they could not meet either of them, they decided to kidnap those working for them.
The parents of the victims are pleading with both the federal and state governments to rescue their children from their captors.
SP Gambo Isah, the police spokesman in Katsina, assured that there was an ongoing effort by the police to rescue the victims with synergy with the state government and other security agencies.
It was also gathered that six of the victims regained freedom on Tuesday.
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