Five women, including a nursing mother and her 6-month-old baby who were abducted in Dan Isa village, Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State have escaped from their abductors.
Bandits attacked the village on Sunday, July 14, 2024, killed five, and abducted 150 others.
The secretary of the Ward Head of Dan Isa Village, Malam Hassan Isa, who confirmed the development to Daily Trust on Tuesday, said they all returned to the village on Monday.
Hassan, popularly known as Yarima, said: “Those that escaped from the bandits are Na’imah Bashar and her baby, Sudais Bashar, Safiya Isau, Inno Lawal Mai Roba, Samira and the wife of one Alhaji Mukhtar Sani.”
Yarima, however, said the number of those that have been killed has risen to five as an additional corpse was found in the bush
“We first recovered the lifeless bodies of Sabi’u Daudu, Haruna Akyarkyara, Abdulmutallib Rabi’u and Bashar Idris in the early hours of Monday, and later in the evening, we discovered that of Zaharaddeen Aliyu,” he said.
“So far, a total of 99 people have been confirmed to have been abducted on Sunday, but we are still compiling our list because the attack was launched on different villages
“This is the third time the bandits are attacking villages in this areas in recent days. They attacked a neighbouring village, Maguru, on Monday, July 8, 2024. They attacked Dogon Kade on Saturday, July 13, 2024; and the following day, Sunday, July 14, they attacked Dan Isa village
“On Monday, July 15, the bandits came and shot one person and he is currently receiving treatment at Kaura Namoda General Hospital. They returned and rustled animals, looted foodstuffs and abducted people including women and children. This is the worst attack we have ever witnessed in the history of this village
“Following the attack, not a single woman sleeps in our village. Only members of the vigilante group and some men spent the night in the village, while the rest fled their homes for safety.
On what the current situation is in the village, Yarima said: “I swear to Allah, presently, we do not have food to eat in the village. We are lucky this morning (yesterday), one of us that is residing in Lagos donated 100 loaves of bread to us which we shared among the few people that have returned to the village.”
Another resident of the village, names withheld, said the lifeless bodies of the slain victims of the attack were buried on Monday, July 15
“We have to seek for protection from the personnel of Zamfara State owned security outfit, Askarawa and the local vigilante group to conduct the burial,” he said.
“Several other people have sustained various degrees of injuries during the unfortunate attack. Yakubu Yahuza, Abdulsalam Yusuf, Shafi’i Yahuza Babbar Ruga, Zahra’u Sani and Kabiru Umar were all injured during the attack. Zahra’u is a pregnant woman and she sustained a fracture in her leg.”
Recounting her ordeal, Na’imah, who escaped together with her son, told the Daily Trust on the phone that she managed to jump from a moving motorbike that was carrying her from Dan Isa village.
“We were beaten up by the bandits as they dragged us to mount the motorbikes. Two abducted men sustained gunshot wounds; one was brushed by a bullet in the head and the other wounded in the stomach,” she said.
“I am very grateful to God; this is the only thing I can say. It was by his Grace that I escaped.”
Linda Ikeji
