There was pandemonium in Birshin Fulani, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis when gunmen invaded the area and allegedly kidnapped a nursing mother, Rukayyat Odedoyin.
According to neighbours, the kidnappers who were about 10 in number invaded the area about 12am and forced themselves into the building by breaking the main door before gaining entrance into the house.
After succeeding in breaking into the house, they were said to have gone away with the woman whose husband had just been transferred to Kaduna State.
“About 12 midnight, we started hearing sporadic gunshots from different directions around our house. We woke up and thought of having cover.
“We then heard people jumping the fence trying to gain entrance into the house of our neighbour. They were there from 12 midnight to 1.30 am.
“By the time we came out, they had left with the woman leaving behind her three children,”
a neighbour who refused to give her name told journalists.
Another neighbour who gave his name simply as Baba said, “We just heard the movement of people on motorbikes and thereafter, we heard gunshots from different directions then later towards the house of the woman who was kidnapped.”
When contacted for reaction, the Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Command, Ahmed Wakil, did not confirm the kidnap incident.
He, however, reacted to allegations by the residents that they called the Police to rescue them but they failed to do so.
Wakil said, “Is not true that the police are not there, our men responded to the distressed call immediately.”
The PUNCH reports that Birshin Fulani has been under attack in recent times.
Barely 13 days ago, gunmen invaded the area and killed two people including a senior staff of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi.
THE PUNCH