Gunmen believed to be terrorists have killed one Sani Maru and kidnapped his new bride, along with seven other persons, in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

According to a resident of Maru town, Ahmad Umar, who spoke to newsmen via telephone interview, the bandits invaded Maru town on Sunday night and entered the newlywedded couple’s house with the intention of kidnapping the man and his wife.

He said the bandits did all they could to force the groom to their enclave, but he refused to be kidnapped, which Umar said forced the bandits to shoot him in the head, killing him instantly.

“The bandits tried to abduct the groom (Mohammed Sani), but he refused to be abducted. I was listening when they asked him to ride on one of the motorcycles, but he insisted that he would not go with them,” he added.

“When the bandits noticed that he was not ready to obey their instructions, one of them shot him, and he died instantly.”

He also said that the bandits abducted his newlywed wife and seven other persons, comprising four males and three females.

Maru town has been facing bandits’ attacks for some years now, and it is one of the local government headquarters in the state that has been seriously devastated by bandits’ activities.

Recall that the Divisional Police Officer, Kazeem Raheem, two other police officers, and the Chief Imam of the town, Imam Salisu Sulaiman, were killed by bandits some months ago.

Many residents of the town have been killed, while several others have been kidnapped in multiple attacks, and millions of naira have also been paid to bandits as ransom by members of the Maru community.

The Emir of Maru, HRH Gado Maigari, narrowly escaped being killed when the bandits invaded his palace, shooting sporadically in a bid to abduct him.

All efforts to get comments from the spokesman of the state police command, DSP Yazid Abubakar, proved abortive as he could not be reached on the phone at the time of filing this report.