Terrorists have abducted unspecified number of female students of the Federal University Gusau, FUGUS in Zamfara State, North-West Nigeria during an invasion of their off-campus hostels in Sabon Gida community.
The terrorists were said to have stormed the community in large numbers at about 3.27am and broke into three of the student hostels whisking away yet-to-be-ascertained number of female students while others narrowly escaped.
Another eyewitness account says it was 24 female students who were abducted by the terrorists from the three hostels. During the attack the terrorists reportedly went close to the position of some troops which was far away from the location where they carried out their abduction and started shooting sporadically to distract them.
Other sources said that the security agents were alerted earlier when they came and confronted the terrorists who fled into the bush and allowed the security operatives to leave and they returned to the community at about 3.27am to abduct the 24 female students of the University.
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Efforts to get the police and the university authorities to confirm the incident have been unsuccessful as they did not respond to calls and SMS sent to them
Sabon community is the host community of the Federal University, Gusau where many of the students are staying off campus and it has faced several attacks and abduction of students.
The most recent was the abduction of five students of the same university at Damban area of Gusau LGA who spent about five months in captivity before they were freed three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Joint Task Force Operation Hadarin Daji, OPHD, have intercepted the abductors of the female students of the Federal University Gusau and rescued six of them.
AIT.live gathered that the troops who pursued the abductors traced them into a thick forest and engaged them in a gun duel supported by air components of the Nigerian Air Force, NAF
A reliable source from the military, said six of the abducted students were rescued, and several of the terrorists were killed. The troops also recovered rifles, motorcycles, and other items from the terrorists.
Residents of the area say fighter jets are currently hovering around the forest and that they are hearing heavy sounds of guns which indicate an exchange of fire between the military and the terrorists.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
