Eighteen people, including four nursing mothers, have been abducted in Mando, Brinin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The incident was said to have occurred on Wednesday morning when gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded the community.
Residents said the hoodlums armed with AK47 rifles raided different houses, searching for grains and other food items.
Brinin Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU), in a statement by its chairman, Barrister Salisu Haruna, said properties worth millions of naira were taken away by the gunmen.
The statement called on security operatives, particularly the Airforce Field Base in Birnin-Gwari and the government to be more proactive in protecting lives and property.
“After relative calm along Birnin-Gwari-Funtua road after the sustained onslaught by security forces, we regret to inform the general public of an attack at Mando village, a distance of five kilometres from Birnin-Gwari town.
“In the latest incident, armed bandits attacked Mando shortly after midnight around 1.30 am and abducted eighteen people, including four nursing mothers,” the statement read.
“The armed bandits did a house-to-house search for grains, other food items and property whose value is yet to be quantified.
“The eighteen people abducted include four nursing mothers with their babies and ten able men.
“We are calling on the security personnel, particularly the Airforce Field Base Birnin-Gwari, that is just three kilometres to Mando, and the governments, to be more proactive in protecting lives and property.
“We equally urged our citizens to assist in reporting suspicious elements and their collaborators.”