Gunmen suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect have allegedly kidnapped a total of 22 girls in Kurebe community in Rafi local government area of Niger State on Thursday.

It was learnt the gunmen stormed the community and whisked the girls between 14 and 17 years purportedly to marry them.

It was gathered that before the abduction, the suspected sect members had informed the community to withdraw the girls from school as they (gunmen) would be coming for them.

Confirming the incident, a source from the area who would not want the name to be mentioned on prints expressed shock over the development, ” they actually carried out their threat without any resistance or any security check”.

According to the source, the group leader simply known as Malam Sadiku has been freely preaching weird Islamic ideology for several months in the area, despite reporting the development to relevant authorities with no action taken.

It would be recalled that the Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, had earlier raised the alarm on several occasions that an Islamic group whose mode of operation is similar to Boko Haram had hoist its flag in Kaure a village close to Kurebe.

Similarly, armed bandits had purportedly abducted one Anthony, a Patent Medicine dealer around Maikunkrle, a suburb of Minna, Bosso local government area of the state.

An eyewitness said the bandits invaded the area and only ferried Anthony away from his house in an operation which lasted only 10 minutes about 9 pm in the area.

It was further learnt that the bandits entered through the thick forest of Kampala axis shooting randomly and scaring the people before taking their target away.

The abduction was the first incident reported around Minna, the Niger State capital.

These abductions are coming less than two days after armed bandits attacked a village in Munya Local Government Area, killing one person and kidnapping abou seventy others in the dead hours of the night.

However, the state Police Public Relations Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, could not be reached for confirmation.