By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
Armed bandits have raided Sado community in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State, abducting several residents including four children.
Witnesses said the attackers, who rode on motorcycles, stormed the village on Thursday night, shooting sporadically before whisking away an undisclosed number of people.
A resident told PRIME GOSSIP that the community had suffered repeated attacks over the past year. “Bandits entered Sado again last night. They kidnapped many villagers, including four children, eight married women, and others,” a local security source confirmed.
As of Friday, those abducted were still in captivity, with no word yet from the abductors or authorities on their whereabouts.
Zamfara and neighbouring states including Niger, Katsina, and Sokoto have been under the grip of persistent banditry, with rural dwellers frequently targeted for kidnappings and killings despite security deployments in the region.
In 2019, the Zamfara State Government under then-Governor Bello Matawalle, now Minister of State for Defence, signed a peace agreement with the gunmen. However, the accord failed to stop the attacks as communities continued to suffer deadly raids and mass abductions.
Residents have appealed to security agencies and the state government to intensify efforts to rescue the abducted victims and end the repeated assaults on the area.