Bandits Kill Newly Recruited Sokoto Govt Workers Returning From Screening, Six Bodies Recovered After Attack | Sahara Reporters

The victims were reportedly returning from Sokoto city, where some of them had gone to submit their certificates for screening and other recruitment-related documentation after being invited by the state government.

Bandits have reportedly killed several passengers, including newly recruited workers of the Sokoto State Government, after intercepting a vehicle conveying them home along the road to Isa Local Government Area of the state.

A community source who spoke to SaharaReporters said at least six corpses had been seen following the attack on Wednesday evening, while search efforts were ongoing to determine whether more passengers had been killed.

The victims were reportedly returning from Sokoto city, where some of them had gone to submit their certificates for screening and other recruitment-related documentation after being invited by the state government.

The source told SaharaReporters that three of the bodies recovered so far were identified as people recruited by the state government.

“They have seen like six corpses now. They are still looking for others. From the corpses seen so far, three were among those employed by the state government. They went to submit their certificates for screening and died on their way back home,” the source said.

The source lamented that the newly recruited workers had been forced to undertake the journey to the state capital despite appeals to the government to conduct the screening exercise within their respective local government areas because of the persistent insecurity on the roads.

According to the source, some of the recruits had expressed concerns about travelling long distances for the exercise and pleaded with the authorities to make alternative arrangements that would reduce their exposure to attacks by armed groups.

“They have been complaining about the situation. These people are just trying to secure their jobs and do what the government asked them to do, but they were now exposed to danger on the road,” the source said.

“They pleaded with the government to allow them to do the interview and screening in their local government areas instead of forcing them to travel all the way to the state capital. They explained that the roads were not safe, but their request was not granted,” the source added.

The source described the incident as particularly painful because the affected workers were reportedly travelling to fulfil requirements set by the government as part of the recruitment process.

“They were not travelling for anything else. They went because the government invited them to submit their certificates and complete the screening. Now, some of them have been killed while returning home,” the source said.

The source further disclosed that some other people were reportedly kidnapped during the attack, although the identities of the abducted persons and the number of people taken away remained unclear as of the time of filing this report.

“They also kidnapped some people during the attack. We are still trying to get more information about what happened and how many people were taken away,” the source said.

The exact number of passengers in the vehicle and the total number of casualties had yet to be independently confirmed as of the time of filing this report. However, the source told SaharaReporters that two vehicles with six passengers each were mostly affected during the attack.

The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of residents travelling on roads in Sokoto State, particularly in communities facing persistent attacks by armed groups.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the Ebonyi State Police Command, Rufai Ahmad, were unsuccessful, as he neither answered calls to his mobile phone nor responded to a text message sent to him as of the time this report was filed.