Few hours after 11 persons were kidnapped at Gauraka in the Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State, two suspected kidnappers were allegedly burnt alive by a mob in Madalla area of Suleja LGA of the state.
Madalla is a few kilometers from Gauraka.
The angry mob allegedly set the two suspected bandits on fire at about 10 a.m. yesterday.
An eyewitnesses told newsmen that the suspected bandits were about to escape when the people in the area rounded them up and set them on fire with petrol and used tyres.
It could not be confirmed if there was any link between the Gauraka kidnap incident and the burnt suspected kidnappers.
In an early morning raid, bandits stormed Gauraka town in the Tafa LGA and kidnapped not less than 12 residents. The figure has now risen to 15, according to a credible government source in Minna.
The heavily-armed criminals shot sporadically into the air as they went from house to house kidnapping their victims and taking them to unknown destination.
Following the development, hundreds of youths and other villagers poured out on the road blocking the ever busy Abuja- Suleja-Kaduna road thereby preventing free flow of traffic on both sides of the road.
However, some men of the Nigeria Army have been deployed in Gauraka to clear the busy road of the protesters.
Newsmen were told that the soldiers “are carrying out their mandate with a lot of civility in order not to cause a riot.
“As a result, partial movement of vehicles has been restored on the road.”
Meanwhile, the police station at Gauraka in the Tafa LGA of the state has been allegedly vandalised and set ablaze by protesters.
It was reported that valuable items were said to have been burnt in the police station.
Some protesters, who were protesting the abduction of 15 people in the community yesterday by bandits, reportedly set the station ablaze after allegedly vandalising it.
The state Police Public Relations Officer DSP Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement made available to newsmen, describing those behind the incident as “miscreants.”
Abiodun also confirmed that bandits raided the Gauraka community yesterday, but that only six people were kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination.
According to the Police spokesman, “Niger State Police Command wishes to confirm that on May 24, 2021, unknown gunmen attacked the residents of Angwan-wazobia in Gauraka area of Tafa LGA where about six persons were abducted.”
