Abduction for rituals has crept into Kaduna State, which was hitherto ravaged only by cattle rustlers, robbers, sectarian strife and Boko Haram insurgency. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE writes
Once upon a time, Kaduna State made the wrong headlines but only for robbery attacks, cow theft, ethno-religious violence and lately Boko Haram attacks. Now, add kidnapping to the list. The toll on the capital of Northern Nigeria is heavy.
Before mid 2015, the state was always in the news for several attacks on villages, leading to death of many, especially in the southern parts. In the central areas, armed robbery and cattle rustling, particularly in Birnin Gwari axis, were the order of the day.
The Nasir el-Rufai administration swung into action. It halted organised crime in the south, kept cow rustlers quiet in the central areas, and celebrated its achievement. But just then, kidnappers sprang up, as if to get their share of crime proceeds before it was gone. And it seems they are hitting it big.
Security experts have attributed the rising cases of kidnapping to the crackdown on killings, robbery and cattle rustling. Governor el-Rufai also said recently that criminals were resorting to kidnapping after insurgency, armed robbery and cattle rustling have been defeated.
But unlike other parts of the country where kidnapping began, the crime has turned bloody in Kaduna, sending a chill in the spines of Kaduna residents, especially the rich.
Although, a few kidnap cases were earlier reported, it climaxed with the abduction of three Kaduna pastors in early March, one of whom died in the kidnappers’ den, and the subsequent abduction and killing of an army colonel.
However, unlike the Niger Delta experience, some of the Kaduna kidnap cases were not targeted at getting ransom, but done for ritual purposes. The case of four-year-old Sadiq Usman is an example.
The little Usman’s eyes were plucked out by his abductors for suspected rituals in Zaria. The Nation gathered that the boy was wandering in the neighbourhood of Ban Zazzau when the ritualists abducted him.
According to reports, the suspected ritual murderers soon after kidnapping the boy on his way to the evening Islamic school, took him to an uncompleted building and forcefully removed his eyes.
It was gathered that some residents of the area heard the commotion, but before coming to the boy’s rescue, the hoodlums had fled. He was subsequently treated at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, but the fact remains that his abductors have left the poor boy blind for the rest of his life.
Unlike the little Usman’s ordeal, three grown-up HEKAN pastors were kidnapped in commando-style by masked gunmen along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway.
The pastors were the President of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria, the Reverends Emmanuel Dziggau, Vice President, Iliya Anto and Yakubu Zarma, who were on the church permanent site about 17km away from Kaduna when they were whisked away.
Another pastor, Jubrailu Ibrahim Wobiat, who escaped the attack by the whiskers recounted the ordeal.
He said, “We went to clear the land to start building our seminary school. We finished work of the day and were about leaving. The Vice President was to take off to Abuja, suddenly we saw men wearing masks armed with AK-47 rifles. They were about six. They blocked the small access road leading to the main road as our President, his Vice and the other clergyman were driving out of the place.
“They ordered them out of their cars, but one of the drivers who was driving the Vice President escaped and ran back to those of us who were still behind at the site to tell us about what had happened.
“We quickly abandoned our cars and ran into the bush for our dear lives and got to the Express Way to the town. The police later escorted us to pick our cars.
Their abductors later demanded for N100 million ransom. But unfortunately enough, the Vice President, Reverend Iliya Anto, who was just recuperating from a surgery died in the kidnappers’ custody.
Pastor Wobiat told newsmen: “They demanded for N100 million, they also told us that the Vice President is sick and they described a location where we could pick him. But when we went there with the police, we couldn’t see him. Somehow, they were monitoring us.
He said the HEKAN President Reverend Emmanuel Dziggau and Retired Reverend Yakubu Dzarma were freed by their abductors. Reverend Anto was later found dead.
However, it was not clear as to whether a ransom was paid to secure the release of the reverend fathers or not.
Another bloody abduction was that of Colonel Samaila Inusa of the Nigerian Army. The gunmen suspected to be kidnappers whisked away Colonel Inusa in his Mercedes-Benz car around Kamazo, along Kaduna Refinery Road, in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State.
