Gunmen have abducted six imams travelling to Talata Mafara in Zamfara State, the state police command has confirmed.
The victims were reportedly intercepted at about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday along the Dakko–Damri feeder road in Bakura Local Government Area.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara State, Yazid Abubakar, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Sunday.
According to him, the Divisional Police Officer in Bakura mobilised police personnel to the scene after receiving information about the abduction.
He added that security operatives were conducting a search operation aimed at locating and rescuing the victims.
The police, however, did not disclose the identities of the abducted clerics or the purpose of their journey to Talata Mafara.
The Nigerian Army also confirmed that some persons travelling towards Talata Mafara were abducted, although it said it had yet to independently establish whether the victims were imams.
Olaniyi Osoba, a lieutenant colonel and spokesperson for the Army’s 8 Division, said the victims were reportedly travelling to meet former Zamfara State Governor and serving Senator, Abdulaziz Yari.
Mr Osoba, however, dismissed reports that any of the clerics had been abducted from Senator Yari’s residence.
“Nothing happened to those ones,” he said, referring to clerics who had gathered at the senator’s residence for prayers.
He explained that the military had not confirmed the identities of those abducted and that the victims had not been rescued as of Sunday morning.
Earlier reports had linked the incident to a gathering at Senator Yari’s residence where Islamic clerics reportedly attended prayers for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.
Senator Yari was recently reappointed as coordinator of President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign in Zamfara State.
Zamfara remains one of the states in Nigeria’s North-western region severely affected by banditry and kidnapping, with armed groups frequently targeting travellers and communities for ransom.
