From John Adams, Minna
Barely 24 hours after gunmen attacked some villages across three Local Government Areas of Niger State, two construction workers have been abducted along the busy Minna-Lambata-Izom road in Guara LGA.
The incident occurred at about 2:00 pm shortly after the governor’s convoy passed the road on his way to Abuja.
There was panic among the villagers who watch helplessly as the gunmen unleash terror on the Salini construction company workers handling the dualisation of the 82 kilometres Minna-Suleja highway.
The operation by the gunmen caused heavy traffic on the road as motorists had to park their vehicles and wait until the gunmen completed their operations which lasted about one hour.
A community source told our correspondent that the gunmen, numbering about 20, fired several gunshots into the air while the operation lasted.
‘They eventually went away with two of the workers while others were given the beating of their life,’ our source added.
It was also gathered that the gunmen snatched two motorcycles from the villagers with which they used to evacuate their victims.
Meanwhile, in another development, gunmen at about 3:30 pm today, stormed a local market at Tsohon Rami, Kontagora local government area and killed an unspecified number of the villagers.
The gunmen in large numbers were said to have stormed the market with the sole aim of avenging the killing of eight of their members in some communities at Lavun LGA.
The number of villagers killed could not be ascertained at the time of this report, but a source close to the community said the attack brought the market to an abrupt end as the people scrambled for safety.