According to the Police in the Northwest region of Nigeria, worshippers were abducted while they were observing the jamu’at prayers. This altercation has taken place despite the intensified action against armed gangs ordered by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
The spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police, Mohammed Shehu, told the sources that the attack occurred on Friday, September 2, 2022, at the Jumu’at Central Mosque in the Gummi local government area when the worshippers gathered for prayers.
According to the testimony of the eyewitnesses, the attackers were disguised as worshippers and had hidden their weapons in their clothes until they had the chance to infiltrate the mosque.
The attackers shot at infrequent intervals into the air and pushed a large number of worshippers into a forest nearby.
The police responded to the incident, but according to the spokesperson, they could not immediately offer any additional details about the attack to the sources.
Armed gangs have been terrorizing the areas of northwest and central Nigeria for years. More recently, violence has even spread to the southeast, where separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has mainly been blamed for causing unrest. IPOB denies the allegations.
According to Senator Iroegbu, a Security analyst said, the government’s approach to addressing insecurities has not worked.
“It’s a continued red flag,” he said. “I feel most responses have been too reactionary and ad hoc. There has not been any holistic definition of what is happening in the northwest or how to arrest the situation.”
He added that this also hampers the effectiveness of the security operatives because for them to operate effectively, their scope of operation needs to be well defined as well.”
During a top security meeting last month, President Buhari ordered security chiefs to deal with terrorists without constraints.
The Nigerian air force said that airstrikes in the northwest and central regions have nutralized 55 gang members and freed some hostages.
