By Wole Mosadomi, Minna

Bandits killed two people and abducted several others in Niger state. Those abducted were travelling in an open lorry, returning from the Friday Market in Rafi Local Government Area of the state.

The lorry was also said to have been set ablaze after abducting the passengers, which included men, women and children.

The whereabouts of the passengers is yet unknown at the time of going to press.

The incident occurred in Tashar Amale in Rafi Local Government Area of the state on Friday evening.

Governor Abubakar Bello, who was said to be travelling from Minna, the state capital to Kontagora his hometown for the election, arrived the scene shortly after the bandits had left with the victims.

Vanguard reliably gathered that besides the killing and abduction of the passengers, the bandits also stormed a mosque and disrupted the Jumma prayers by shooting at the worshippers.

Some of the worshippers, it was gathered, got bullet wounds.

The bandits then raided the town and some communities in the area during which they were shooting at anybody they came across.

The villagers scampered for safety, during which two of them were gunned down.

Secretary to the Niger State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, who confirmed the incident, said they were yet to confirm the actual number of people abducted by the bandits.

“There was actually an attack and abduction of passengers but we are yet to know the exact number of those killed and abducted,” he declared.