Confirming the incidence, the proprietor of the viewing centre, Sanusi Iliyasu Ishie, said the abductors, numbering about 20, invaded the centre, which is located in the outskirts of Birnin Magaji town around 10:00 p.m. According to him, the kidnappers parked some distance away from the centre and demanded the whereabouts of the operator.

“I and the people around answered them in affirmative because we mistook them for security operatives, “ Sanusi said. He said the gunmen held him hostage and broke into the viewing centre and began to pick people indiscriminately, and when the football viewers realised they were under siege, they started scampering out of the centre, screaming for help in panic. “At the end, they picked six of the viewers who tried to escape,” he said.

When contacted the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Zamfara State Command, Muhammad Shehu, said the command was yet to get details about the incident. Naijacrawl reports that the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari has supported the federal government’s plan to declare a state of emergency in the state following the prevalence of bandits operations that have claimed many lives and displaced thousands in recent times.