Fourteen people have escaped after being kept for days in a camp by bandits affiliated to kingpin, Bello Turji, in Sokoto State.
Sources said the residents escaped from the camp in Suruddubu in Isa Local Government Area on Saturday when their captors went out for other ‘operations’.
The Chairman of the LGA, Abubakar Yusuf, confirmed the development to Premium Times in a telephone interview.
“Yes. They’ve been taken to the General Hospital in Isa for medical check up and would be sent home. We are happy that they are gradually escaping and we will keep praying and supporting our troops to win against these people (bandits),” he said.
Mr Yusuf said he had mobilised the hospital to give prompt medical attention to those wounded by the bandits and those who escape from their abductors.
Mr Yusuf said eight of the escapees are from Sabon Birni Local Government Area while three are from Isa Local Government Area, both in Sokoto State while the remaining three are from Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
A journalist who is from the area said the victims escaped “when the bandits went out to attack some villages in the area”.
The police spokesperson in Sokoto, Sanusi Abubakar, did not respond to several calls and SMS sent to him on the issue.