Residents of Ungwan Ate in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the repeated attacks and kidnappings plaguing their community and surrounding villages.
The protesters, in their numbers, blocked the Ungwan Ate–Ungwan Mission road along Kaduna-Kachia highway, calling on the Kaduna State Government and security agencies to take swift action to protect their lives and properties.
They lamented that bandits had turned their communities into war zones, leaving them in a constant state of fear.
One of the protesters, who spoke to Daily Trust, said gunmen invaded Ungwan Ate on Tuesday night and operated for more than two hours, during which one person was abducted.
“We are not safe anymore. These bandits strike at will, and we have been left to our fate. The government and security agencies need to act fast before more lives are lost,” he said.
The protesters were seen carrying placards with inscriptions such as ‘The Kaduna government says it has made peace with the bandits, but we are being killed every day in Kachia,’ ‘Uncountable souls are there in the bush suffering for offenses they no nothing about,’ ‘We cannot go to farms, for majority of us depend on farming,’ ‘We can not longer sleep with our eyes closed. Who is killing us?’
The protest comes amid a surge in kidnappings across Kachia Local Government, with neighbouring communities such as Gadanji, Ungwan Wage, Ungwan Alhaji, Agunu Dutse, Maro, and Ungwan Dauje also suffering from repeated attacks. Residents say security presence in the area remains weak despite multiple distress calls to authorities.
Efforts to reach the Kaduna State Police Command for comments were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
The Kaduna Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, did neither answer calls nor respond to messages sent to him by this reporter.
Meanwhile, residents continue to appeal to the government for urgent intervention to restore peace to the area.
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