Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have invaded a mosque and abducted 17 persons at Gwargwada-Sabo community in Gadabuke development area of Nasarawa State.

It was gathered that among those kidnapped were a library staff with the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, three women and 13 other male adults.

A resident of the community, simply identified as Usman, said the incident happened on Tuesday night when Muslims of the community were observing Isha’i prayers.

“The gunmen actually took positions and started shooting into different directions, after other gangs surrounded the mosque and whisked them away into the bush,” he said.

He said only the chief Imam of the community mosque and children were spared.

Families of the kidnapped residents have established contact with the kidnappers, who are demanding N1million in ransom for each victim.

“Actually, they first demanded for N50 million on the first day, but as we keep on pleading and negotiating with them, they now say we should pay N1 million on each victim,” he said.

Attempts to contact the spokesman of Nasarawa state police command, ASP Ramhan Nansel, proved abortive because neither the call nor the text message put to his mobile phone was answered as of the time of filing this story. (Daily Trust)