Atotal of 29 people were abducted by bandits who invaded Ruwan-Godiya village, police authorities in Katsina State have said.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Gambo Isah, confirmed the figure to Channels TV on Tuesday.

Ruwan-Godiya came under an attack on Sunday evening by a group of armed men in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina.

Isah, while highlighting some of the measures taken by the police, explained that a team of security operatives has since been deployed to ensure that the abducted villagers were rescued.

He also did not rule out the possibility that some of them could have escaped into the forests and were already making attempts to return home.

“Twenty-nine people were reported by the community to have been abducted and it is even possible that some of the victims might have escaped and are trying to find their way back home,” the command’s spokesman said.

“We have, however, increased the number of security operatives, including the number of mobile policemen in the community while we are at the same time making every effort to ensure that all the abducted victims are rescued.”

Conflicting figures had emerged over the number of people abducted by the bandits during the invasion of the village.

Amidst reports that dozens of locals were forcefully taken away from Ruwan-Godiya, a community leader in the village, Mohammed Murtala, had said 38 people could not be accounted for following the attack.

According to sources, the gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons stormed the village on over 60 motorcycles.

They were said to have shot sporadically into the air to cause panic, despite the presence of military personnel in the village.