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- Several church members abducted
From John Adams, Minna
Terrorists in the early hours of Sunday invaded Agwara town, the headquarters of Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, during which the only police station in the town and the United African Missionary Church (UMCA) were burnt.
An unspecified number of worshippers were abducted by the terrorists, who invaded the town in large numbers. They also carted away foodstuffs and other essentials after ransacking the town, moving from house to house.
However, at the time of filing this report, there has been no confirmation of any casualty.
According to eyewitnesses, the terrorists invaded the town at about 2:00 a.m., fully armed, and first parked their motorcycles outside the town before trekking into the town.
Their first point of call was the police station, which they sprayed with petrol and set ablaze after all the policemen on duty took to their heels.
The eyewitness, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone, said that because of the large number of the invaders, the policemen had no choice but to run for their lives.
However, our source could not say if anything was taken away from the police station.
It was gathered that from the police station, located outside the town, the terrorists moved into the town and burnt down the UMCA church.
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It was further learnt that the few worshippers who were taken away were those that held the end-of-month night vigil in the church before the arrival of the terrorists.
Some, however, managed to run away and into the bush for the safety of their lives.
They were said to have put together the benches in the church and sprayed them with petrol before setting the church on fire.
There is now commotion in the town because several villagers ran into the bush for safety and are yet to return to the town.
A reverend in the church, Reverend Yakubu Yohanna, when contacted on the phone, confirmed the story, saying, “we are just coming back into the town from our hiding places, but many are still in the bush hiding.”
Reverend Yohanna also confirmed that “so far no life has been lost, but we are waiting for our people to come out from hiding.”
Efforts to get police confirmation so far proved abortive, as well as a statement from the state government on the latest attack.
Agwara is the local government from where 230 teachers, pupils and students were abducted at Papiri town last year before the Federal Government rescued them.
