One of the hunters, who pleaded for anonymity, disclosed the incident to newsmen on Monday.
“We confirmed that 17 have been killed… some of the people who went there to look for their relatives told to us that they have seen 17 corpses,” he said.
Daily Trust gathered that the hunters had mistakenly entered the hideouts of the gunmen while hunting.
The bandits had chased them, killing 17 people instantly and taking away 25 others.
The source said the captors have demanded a ransom of N50 million but when they said they could not raise such amount, they told them to go to the government and collect it.
He said of the 17 bodies, one was buried there because the body decomposed near the settlement of the gunmen.
“We call on the government to assist us in rescuing the hunters. On Sunday evening, they called and said if we don’t need them, they will kill them,” the source pleaded.
The hunters were said to have come from various towns, including Katsina, Tsagero, Abukur, Kanyar Uban Daba, Mashi, Fadi Gurje, Ku Tare Dandagoro, Muduru and villages of Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.
When contacted, the police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah, said there were conflicting reports on the incident.
Katsina is one of the states where bandits are making life difficult for residents.
