The gunmen who abducted a former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), have demanded a N250 million ransom for his release.
This is just as the Katsina State Police Command on Saturday stated that it was on top of the situation with the relevant stakeholders and other security agencies in the state.
Tsiga was kidnapped alongside several other residents of Tsiga village in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.
A source close to the family who preferred anonymity said the abductors contacted the family and requested the amount.
The incident occurred around midnight on Wednesday when over 100 gunmen surrounded the General’s residence and whisked him away.
Sources said that during the attack, which lasted for a few minutes, two residents were wounded and one of the hoodlums died after being mistakenly shot by his colleagues.
The member representing Bakori/Danja federal constituency Katsina State, Abdullahi Balarabe Dabai, told journalists that the attackers, after surrounding the house, began to break doors, a situation that prompted the general to come out and ask them what they were looking for.
Meanwhile, the Katsina State Police Command on Saturday confirmed the abduction of retired General Tsiga, stating that it was on top of the situation.
The police Public Relations Officer of the command, Abubakar Sadiq, disclosed this during a press briefing held at the command’s headquarters to review crime-fighting achievements recorded in the previous month of January 2025.
He announced that 45 suspects had been arrested in connection with various crimes within the period.
Abubakar recalled that on February 6, 2025 at about 0530 hours, information was received at the Bakori divisional police headquarters of the activities of some suspected armed bandits where they attacked Tsiga Village, and immediately, operatives responded to the scene to rescue the situation.
“Unfortunately, before the arrival of the operatives, the hoodlums already succeeded in their mission”, he added.
Katsina is one of several states in the North-western and North-Central that is terrorised by bandits who raid villages, kill and abduct residents as well as burn and loot homes.
The gangs, who maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger states, have earned notoriety for mass kidnappings of students from schools in recent years.
Governor Dikko Umar Radda had established the Katsina Community Watch Corps (KCWC) comprising around 2,000 vigilantes to assist the military and police in fighting the gangs.
