(Kano) Thirteen people are being held hostage by armed men who attacked the mosque where they were gathered to pray in Katsina state, northwestern Nigeria, police said on Sunday.
Late on Saturday evening, armed men “attacked the mosque in the village of Maigamji [dans le district de Funtua, NDLR] and abducted 19 worshipers after shooting and wounding the imam and another worshiper” during evening prayers, said Gambo Isah, a Katsina state police spokesman.
“Our men pursued the bandits and managed to rescue six of the worshipers from their captors while efforts are underway to free the remaining 13,” he added.
The two injured people are receiving treatment at a hospital, the spokesman said.
Criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” operate in northwestern and central Nigeria, where they terrorize the population, attack and loot villages, killing many inhabitants.
These armed bands also practice numerous kidnappings for ransom, but rarely target places of worship, targeting more schools or travelers on the roads.
The hostages are usually released after paying ransom to the gangs who find refuge in the vast Rugu forest, which straddles the states of Zamfara, Niger, Katsina and Kaduna.
In November, 15 people were killed and several others injured in multiple attacks by bandits on villages in neighboring Kaduna state, authorities said.
President Muhammadu Buhari is under fire from critics after two terms marked in particular by the rise in insecurity, two and a half months before the presidential election in which he will not stand again, in accordance with the Constitution.