By Paul Adaji (ABUJA) –
A report from Katsina, the home state of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, indicate that suspected bandits have launched a fresh attack on a local community, abducting at least 40 worshippers from a mosque.
The bandits were said to have attacked the Yakin Kwata community in Jibiya Local Government Area of Katsina state in the early hours of today during the Laylatul Qadr prayer.
Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Decree or Night of Power, is one of the most sacred nights in the Islamic calendar. It takes place in the last ten days of Ramadan and was the night in which the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
According to an account by a local source who pleaded anonymity while confirming the incident to African Independent Television’s Ait.live, the 40 worshippers abducted include both male and female who were observing the night Ramadan prayer called, Tahajjud.
The worshippers were said to have gathered at a mosque to observe Tahajjud, a midnight prayer carried out by Muslims during Ramadan, when the bandits, who came in their numbers, struck in the early hours of the day.
.Some residents were quoted to have said they had been earlier alerted about possible attacks, after sighting movement of suspected bandits around the town.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Katsina state, Gambo Isah, told TheCable online that some of the persons abducted have escaped, although he could not give the exact number of worshippers still in captivity.
