Maiduguri, Nigeria — The 10 family members who were allegedly hypnotised and taken to an unknown destination from Dorayi quarters in Dutisinma Local Government of Katsina State last week are in Ibn Taimiyya Masjid, Maiduguri the house of Mohammed Yusuf with several members of the Muslim sect that came from other parts of the country, Daily Trust has learnt.
The leading member of the sect in Katsina, Sheik Sani who was alleged to have given the family members a substance before they followed him, denied doing so.
According to him, every person that went with him to Maiduguri did so on his own volition.
Sani called one of the boys that followed him and asked him to testify if he ever gave him any substance, water or food.
The boy, about 13 years old, said, "Ba ka taba ba," and went back to his seat.
The scene at Ibn Taimiyya was so hostile that our correspondents could not conduct further interviews or take photographs.
According to Sani, who sat in an open field under a tree where members of the group, mostly from Katsina clustered around him when our correspondents visited, said they were in Maiduguri to wait for whatever their Imam would tell them to do, and that several Muslims came along with him from Katsina that were not necessarily from the families of Batagarawa and Taylor as widely reported.