By AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna and Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja
Bandits struck again in Kaduna State on Wednesday, taking nine residents of Chikun Local Government Area to their den.
The bandits demanded N180million ransom from their victims’ relatives.
The latest incident, the third within this week in the state led to a protest by Chikun youths.
The State Police Command has yet to confirm the attack. On Monday 121 pupils of Bethel Baptist High School were kidnapped. The following day, a cleric, Rev. Kayode Popoola, became a victim.
The bandits, who stormed Ungwan-Gimbiya in Chikun local government around 10.30 pm, broke into homes and lined up 15 residents for movement to their hideout.
They later freed six of them two nursing mothers, three elderly women, and a hypertensive patient.
The bandits were said to have left with the remaining nine persons, including a Pharmacist, a landlord and his two sons.
The Nation gathered that the bandits who attacked bore holes on the fences and walls of their victims’ houses before pulling down the doors of their apartments.
A source in Chikun, who asked not to be named, said the elderly women were freed after one of them fainted.
One of the freed nursing mothers said her husband is one of the nine in the bandit’s custody.
She said, “I was in our sitting room when around past 10 pm, some people entered with knives. They wanted to stab me. I followed them outside only to see that they tied my husband and two boys.
“They allowed me to go back and carry my crying baby. They threatened to kill us. But they left me and some elderly women.
The second nursing mother whose husband is the abducted pharmacist, said: “They came shooting and breaking our windows after they successfully broke the fence. They took me and my husband out but I was let go when my baby started crying.”
A Lawyer, who narrowly escaped being kidnapped said: “I discovered at about 11:20 pm on Wednesday that there was an attack on our community. I was hearing gunshots and shaking of our gate but the bandits.
“They broke the wall and entered our compound, broke our burglary but my wife and I hid in our bedroom. They tried opening the bedroom door but couldn’t.
“But they took my neighbour , Mr. Samson, away. The bandits spoke Fulani and Hausa Languages.”
But of Ungwan-Gimbiya and Sabon Tasha took over the Kaduna-Kachia Road in protest the abduction. ..
“We are tired of killings and kidnappings every time; we want the government to know that we are angry and if they can’t protect us we will protect ourselves,” they said.
When contacted, the Kaduna State Command’s Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) ASP Mohammed Jalige said he was at a meeting.
Read Also: Abductors release Oyo village head, wife after ‘N2m ransom payment’
Visiting Inspector-General of Police Usman Alkali has challenged officers and men of the state Police Command to redouble their efforts in order to keep the state safe
Alkali, who visited Governor Nasir El-Rufai, noted that policing in Kaduna State required dedication, professionalism, respect for human rights and commitment to doing the right thing.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order the rescue of Rev. Popoola of Calvary Baptist Church, Kurmin Mashi in Kaduna State.
CAN General Secretary, Daramola Joseph, said in a statement: “Our appeal to the President, the military, the police, and the Kaduna State government is to ensure Rev Popoola is not murdered like the district chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) and CAN Chairman of Michika Local Government in Adamawa State, Rev Lawan Andimi.
204 students kidnapped in Kaduna is six months, says CP
Two hundred and four school children were kidnapped by bandits in Kaduna States between January this year and yesterday, Commissioner of Police (CP) Umar Muri said yesterday.
He gave the information while briefing Inspector-General (IG) Alkali Baba Usman, who was in Kaduna on an assessment tour of the security situation.
The CP described the crime waves being faced by his command worrisome, listing them as kidnapping, culpable homicide, armed robbery, cattle rustling, rape and human trafficking.
Muri listed others, which he tagged “lesser crimes” as obtaining money by false pretence, criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal trespass, theft and mischief among others.
He told the IG that the most-disheartening crime bedevilling the state is the unrepentant and horrifying activities of kidnappers that apparently occupied the forests in the state and periodically kidnapping innocent students from learning institutions and some routes which include Kaduna – Abuja Highway, Kaduna – Birnin Gwari Road and Kaduna – Zaria road.
The CP said: “From our records, the schools that have been attacked and students abducted in Kaduna State from January 2021 to date alone include: College of Forestry and Mechanisation, Mando Afaka, where thirty- 37 students were kidnapped on March 11, 2021 and subsequently rescued.
“Green Field University on Kaduna-Abuja Highway where 23 students were kidnapped on April 20 and five of the students were gruesomely killed by their abductors while the rest were released.
“Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria where two kidnapping incidents were recorded – first involving three students on December 14, 2020, who were later released by their abductors and the second incident, involving two lecturers and seven students, was recorded on June 10.
“The National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Saye, Zaria LGA (Local Government Area) of Kaduna where eight staff member were kidnapped on July 4 and Bethel Baptist Academy, Maraban Rido, Kaduna, where 135 students were kidnapped on July 5, out of which twenty-eight (28) were rescued and the remaining 107 victims are still in captivity,” the CP said.
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