Days after eight vigilante members were killed in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, no fewer than 17 worshippers have reportedly been abducted by suspected bandits during a prayer session inside a mosque in the state.
The bandits, said to have arrived in large numbers on motorcycles and blocked all escape routes, attacked the mosque while worshippers were performing the early morning Subhi prayer.
The attack occurred in the Maradawa community of Gusau Local Government Area, one of several flashpoints repeatedly targeted by criminal gangs operating across Zamfara and other parts of Nigeria’s North-West.
“They surrounded the mosque before anyone could flee. Those who tried to hide were dragged out,” a local resident told correspondents, lamenting the absence of security personnel during the assault.
A security analyst, Bakatsine, who confirmed the attack on Thursday, described the abduction as a “tragic reflection of the government’s failure to protect its citizens.”
He noted that the pattern of early morning raids on worship centres and villages has become a defining feature of Zamfara’s worsening security crisis.
“The frequency of these attacks is terrifying. If worshippers can no longer feel safe in the house of God, then our security structure has completely failed,” Bakatsine said.
As of the time of filing this report, authorities had yet to release an official statement or provide details about the victims.
Community members, however, have called for immediate government intervention to rescue the abducted worshippers and strengthen surveillance around vulnerable rural settlements.
The Maradawa abduction adds to the growing list of violent incidents in Zamfara, where residents continue to live under constant threat from armed groups who kidnap for ransom, raid villages, and disrupt daily life.
Security experts have urged the federal government to review its counter-terrorism strategy and improve intelligence coordination to curb the relentless wave of violence in the region.
