Bandits on Sunday night kidnapped at least 86 persons in Tantatu and Aguba communities in the Kufana District of Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Residents said the attackers also broke into shops, ransacked houses and looted foodstuffs and other valuable items during the invasion.
This is the eighth incident of kidnappings and attacks by bandits in the state within the last one month.
On February 18, 2024, bandits invaded Gindin Dutse Makyali village in Kajuru LGA and burnt 12 people and 17 houses.
On February 29, they invaded Angwar Auta in Gonin Gora under Kakau Ward of Chikun Local Government Area, killed two local vigilantes and abducted 10 residents.
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On March 7, at least 287 schoolchildren of Kuriga Primary and Junior Secondary School were abducted in Chikun LGA.
On March 8, two residents were killed during Friday prayers at Anguwar Makera under the Kwasakwasa Community in Birnin Gwari LGA while many others were kidnapped.
On March 12, at least 30 villagers were also taken hostage by bandits in Budah village, also in Kajuru.
On March 13, one person was killed and eight others abducted when bandits invaded the Banono settlement under the Angwaku community in Kajuru.
On March 16, 2024, bandits invaded Dogon Noma – Unguwan Gamo Community in the Maro ward of Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State and kidnapped 14 villagers.
The latest incident happened a day before the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, visited Governor Uba Sani on Monday at the Government House in Kaduna where he assured that the 287 students and others recently abducted would be rescued.
Mr. Stephen Maikori, Overseer of the Kufana District, in a statement sent to the Agom Kufana Traditional Council and obtained by Daily Trust yesterday, said the bandits invaded the communities around 10.30 pm on Sunday in large numbers and kidnapped the victims.
He said, “This is to report to you that on Sunday 17/3/2024 around 10:30 p.m., bandits invaded the community in large numbers and kidnapped 86 persons.
“They broke down shops, ransacked houses, and looted foodstuffs and other valuable items.”
Another community leader, who did not want to be named, said villagers were fleeing the areas because they were not sure of the next community to be attacked by bandits.
“Our major challenge now is that our people are running from their houses because of the series of abductions in their areas. They are now moving to the Maraban Kajuru area. This is disturbing to us,” he said.
The state government has not responded to the latest incident. The overseeing Commissioner in the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, did not reply to a message sent to him via WhatsApp.
But the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, confirmed the incident.
He, however, said the command was yet to get the accurate number of people abducted due to bad telecommunication networks in the area.
“We have received the information, but we don’t have the accurate number of the victims due to poor network in the area.
“But we have already deployed our men, both conventional police and mobile policemen, including the intervention special squad for the possibility of rescuing the victims,” he said.
The Defence Chief, General Musa, during a meeting with Governor Sani yesterday, said the military and other security agencies were working tirelessly to free the hostages.
Musa was in Kaduna to sympathise with the governor on the abduction of the schoolchildren and others in the state. He alleged that there were individuals who were not happy to see the country develop and wanted to cause rancour and mayhem.
He cautioned such individuals to desist from such acts. He said, “Whatever is happening, it’s a matter of time; it will not last forever. It’s a trying period that the state and nation are going through.
“We are working tirelessly to ensure the security of the state, the country and the citizens, especially to free the abducted ones, both the schoolchildren and all others abducted.
“We are happy with the directive given by the president based on the unfortunate incident in Delta State, that he will give us all the support that may be required, which is the mandate that we need.
“We came to reassure you that we are not sleeping, that we are taking more actions to ensure that we safeguard and bring them (children) back as quickly as possible. These are children and leaders of tomorrow. We will not allow them to go through this trauma. Let them not feel they have been neglected.”
Musa also said he knew that the parents of the children were having sleepless nights, adding that the military was making adjustments to ensure that Kaduna, the North West and Nigeria were secure.
“For those individuals who have sworn that there will be no peace, they will have no peace. We will ensure that we follow them wherever they are. For those sponsoring them and encouraging them to do the same, for their own good, they should stop.
“We will ensure that anybody who stands in the way of getting peace in the state and Nigeria will be brought to book. We will take our time to follow up through the normal process without infringing on people’s rights, but we will do what is required,” he added.
Governor Sani commended the leadership of the military for their support toward securing the state.
73 cattle rustled in Plateau
Meanwhile, gunmen attacked pastoralists in the Mila community of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State on Sunday and rustled 73 cattle.
The incident, according to the owners of the rustled cattle, occurred around 2:00 pm while the cattle were being grazed in the area.
They said they had informed the Sector Five Commander of Operation Safe Haven in Bokkos maintaining peace in the area on the matter.
Saleh Yusuf Adam, Chairman of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) in Bokkos, said more than 93 cattle were also rustled in Kulben community of Mangu LGA of the state on Tuesday last week.
One of the cattle owners, Usman Hassan, who lost 45 out of the rustled cattle, told Daily Trust that the gunmen arrived in the area and started shooting sporadically to scare them and rustled the cattle.
Usman appealed to the security agencies to recover their cattle.
The spokesperson for Operation Safe Haven maintaining peace in Plateau and some parts of Bauchi and Kaduna states, Captain Oya James, said he was not aware of the incident.
He promised to confirm from the area and get back to our correspondent. He did not call back as of the time of this report last night.
Bandits taking over our farmlands, S/West farmers cry out
In the Southwest, cocoa and plantain farmers yesterday raised the alarm that bandits have taken over their farmlands, warning that killings and abduction of farmers had turned farming activities into a dangerous venture.
The farmers, in a Save our Soul (SoS) message to President Bola Tinubu, said famine may hit the Southwest region if the persistent killings and kidnapping of farmers on their farmlands by the armed bandits were not checked.
The National President of the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria (CPFAN), Ayodele Ojo, said farmers in states such as Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, and Ondo including neighbouring Edo communities could no longer access their crops for harvesting due to fear of banditry in their respective areas.
“Many of us have not been to the farms for weeks now because of the fear of being kidnapped by these terrorists, marauding on our farmlands,” he said. According to him, there was a need for proactive security measures to be put in place to protect the lives and properties of the farmers whose only business is to cultivate and harvest food for the nation to eat.
“You can see that farmers are reducing in the farms. They are running away from their farms and this has affected the prices of food. None of us is ready to go into farming any longer.
“Even, our children can’t follow us to the farm again, they’re now scared of getting killed or watching their parents being abducted by these bandits,” he added.
He also said the advice given by President Tinubu to the governors to provide land for grazing in their states to address the protracted farmers-herders crisis in the country would be resisted by the farmers.
Ojo observed that the creation of such a grazing zone is another invitation to renewed clashes, urging Mr Tinubu not to contribute to already existing food insecurity in the Southwest region.
“We reject this proposition of President Tinubu on the creation of grazing zones. What we need to do at the moment is to find a solution to the problem of food scarcity and how to encourage farmers to grow more food and not allow another round of destruction,” he said.
