Suspected bandits have reportedly beheaded one of more than 100 people abducted during an overnight attack on Shadadi and neighbouring communities in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State.

The terrorists who invaded the communities on Friday, also imposed a N50 million levy on residents before allowing them access their farms for the ongoing farming season.

The victim was said to have been killed after his relatives failed to meet the ransom demanded by the bandits.

According to a source, the kidnappers initially demanded 10 jerry cans of 50 litres of petrol as ransom for the victim, but his relatives could only provide six, which the bandits rejected.

They subsequently increased the ransom by demanding an additional two cartons of engine oil.

It was gathered that when the relatives eventually returned with the items, the bandits did not release the victim. Instead, they handed over his severed head, wrapped in a polythene bag, to the relatives.

They reportedly instructed the relatives to take the severed head to the village head of Shadadi, Ya’u Guskum, and provided a telephone number through which the traditional ruler could contact them.

They also threatened to behead more of the abducted residents if the N50 million levy imposed on the communities was not paid.

Confirming the development, Guskum said one of the abducted persons was beheaded and his severed head sent to him.

He said: “Those who took the ransom only returned with the severed head of the victim. They instructed them to bring it to me, promising to behead more people in their custody if we failed to pay the N50 million levy imposed on us.”

When contacted, the Niger State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said he would get back to the reporter after obtaining details of the incident.

He was, however, yet to do so as of press time.

Also, bandits terrorising parts of Plateau State, over the weekend, beheaded a 55-year-old man and fled with the head, while 13 others were killed in separate attacks in Jos South, Mangu and Riyom local government areas of the state.

A source close to Kikyau in Mangu Local Government Area disclosed that the man, identified as Godfrey Gumut, was attacked on Sunday in his house, adding that after the bandits shot him at close range, they decapitated him and took away his head.

The Nigerian Tribune learnt that the youth, alongside vigilantes in the area, are still combing the hills and bushes around for possible recovery of the deceased’s head as of presstime.

Also, nine passengers in a commercial vehicle travelling to Jos were killed on Sunday night, when suspected terrorists opened fire on the bus they were travelling in at Dungus community in Jos South Local Government Area, while other passengers sustained various degrees of injury.

The publicity secretary of the Berom Youth Moulders (BYM), Rwang Tengwong, who confirmed the Dungus attack, said the victims were passengers travelling to Jos when the attackers opened fire on their vehicle.

He said: “The incident occurred around 9.40p.m. Among those killed was a member of Operation Rainbow. It is a very sad development, and we lament the loss of lives.”

He said some of the passengers sustained gunshot wounds and were rushed to hospitals, where some later died.

In another development, suspected terrorists attacked four communities: Kikyau, Ntul, and Kinat of Mangu local government area, killing four persons and leaving many with various degrees of injury.

According to the statement by Mwaghavul Youth Movement (MYM), signed by its publicity secretary, Tubwot Joel Sunday, the deceased from the communities were identified as Pius Dachen, Zadok Irimiya, Kitbam Titus and Godfrey Gumut, who was beheaded.

The movement expressed concern that the incident occurred a few hours after the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division, Nigerian Army, visited Mangu and convened a security engagement with Mwaghavul and Fulani leaders, during which he called on both communities to put an end to their differences.

The MYM said the GOC warned that he would not watch any group attack another, promising that the army would clamp down on any group responsible for further attacks.

“Yet, before the dust could settle on that engagement, Kinat was attacked: a young man was killed, another beheaded, on Friday, in Kikyau and two other persons in Larkas and Ntul communities,” it stated. (Nigerian Tribune, but headline rejigged)