At about 11:30pm of Tuesday, August 27, 2019, gunmen raided the Wurma village of Katsina, northwest Nigeria and picked up anyone they could find.

It was a bloody kidnap operation, residents say.

Alhaji Musa, whose two daughters were among those taken, told Reuters that more than 100 bandits were “shooting from all angles.

“They operated for about three hours with nobody to challenge them,” he added.

Seven residents and one man who was abducted but released by the attackers, said at least 53 people were taken, according to Reuters.

Among those abducted were pregnant women, babies and children. 

Sources disclose that some residents had already received ransom requests from the abductors.

The attackers also stole sheep, goats and food from the village before disappearing into the midnight.

The Katsina state police command reeled out a lower casualty figure, however. 

The police said 15 women were abducted and 10 were freed unharmed following a gun battle with the kidnappers.

“Search parties have been dispatched into the surrounding bushes with a view to rescue the others,” the police said.

Police Public Relations Officer in Katsina, ASP Anas Gezawa said: "gunmen invaded Wurma village in Kurfi local government and abducted 15 women including the Village head’s daughter and his in-law”.

Gezawa admitted that the bandits also carted away an unspecified number of cattle from the community.

“The police team rescued 10 out of the 15 abducted women. They have since been reunited with their families.

”Efforts are being intensified to rescue the other victims and possibly arrest the culprits,” Gezawa added. 

Abductions have become all too common in northwest Nigeria and elsewhere across the country.

Instability has roiled Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, all year. 

The government often attributes the attacks to bandits, a term applied to outlaws who rob, kidnap and kill residents.

President Buhari has twice won the popular vote at the ballot partly due to a promise to tackle widespread insecurity from the north to the south of Nigeria.