Suspected bandits have abducted scores of villagers – numbering about 60 – at Ruwan Tofa village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

Channels Television gathered that during the attack which occurred on Tuesday, vehicles and shops were set ablaze by the bandits.

An eyewitness lamented that his four wives and children were abducted by the armed men who left behind only his seven-year-old child with him.

He explained that a representative of the village head and his entire family, as well as married women, children, and some aged ones were among those abducted.

Residents of the village faulted the response of the security agencies to the attack, saying they made several calls to them as soon as the bandits arrive in the village.

They claimed that the security agencies promised to deploy operatives as soon as possible but none of them was seen up to the time when the bandits left the village.

Efforts to reach the police authorities in Zamfara to confirm the number of those said to have been abducted were not successful as the Public Relations Officer of the command did not pick his calls or reply to text messages sent to him.