This is contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, and made available to newsmen in Gusau on Friday.

Dosara also said that the governor had ordered an immediate investigation into the activities of the bandits in the state with a view to restoring peace in the area.

Eye witnesses told reporters that the gunmen numbering over 100 stopped three Toyota Canters carrying passengers from Dansadau to Dankurmi and diverted the vehicles at gunpoint to an unknown destination.

It was gathered that the hoodlums took away all the passengers , except one woman who they spared alongside her three-year-old son and told her to report back what happened.

The woman was said to have reported back to Dansadau that the bandits would not release the hostages until the governor released their cows numbering over 400 which were recovered from them by security men recently, within seven days.

A joint security patrol had recovered the rustled cows from the criminals during which seven members of the gang were also killed near Bindin village of Maru local government.

Shortly after the abduction of the villagers, a team of mobile policemen went on a rescue mission but the bandits shot and killed two of them and also went away with a third.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Muhammad Shehu, said already a joint security patrol was on trail of the bandits, assuring that they would soon be arrested.