Gunmen ‘kidnap six family members’ of Islamic cleric in Sokoto

Suspected bandits have kidnapped six family members of Bashar Danfili, an Islamic cleric in Sokoto state.

Daily Trust quoted the sheikh as saying that the members of his family taken to an unknown destination are his mother, stepmother, two wives, a sister, and a male.

The sheikh said the bandits demanded a “huge amount of money” which they have not been able to raise.

“The bandits have kidnapped my close relatives. I don’t want to disclose their names,” he said.

“They were on their way to a village when they were attacked and kidnapped.”

The cleric said the driver that was conveying them when the incident was killed instantly and fed to dogs.

“Their driver was killed on the spot and the bandits fed their dogs with his flesh,” he said.

“I am a scholar, I don’t have anything. My job is only to teach people with the books that you can see behind me.

“They gave us a deadline within which the money must be paid or they would kill all of them.

“I know they can do that, looking at what happened recently to a traditional ruler in the state, who was killed by his abductors.”

Danfili asked the public to help him raise funds so that his relatives would be released from the bandits’ enclave.

TheCable contacted the police in Sokoto about the incident, but they are yet to comment on it.