Gunmen suspected to be bandits have reportedly launched a fresh wave of coordinated attacks on several communities in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, abducting the Chief Imam of the Janjala Central Mosque, Malam Bello Abdullahi, and the Fulani leader of the area, Alhaji Shehu Bello.
Many villagers were forced to escape their homes in terror as the armed attackers reportedly stormed several villages in the local government region, including Iddo, Gidan-Makeri, Kohoto, and Janjala. They also kidnapped residents and stole cattle.
A security insider @DanKatsina50 revealed the most recent kidnappings on Saturday morning in a tweet on X (previously Twitter).
According to a neighbourhood elder who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, the most recent incident happened on Tuesday night.
“The bandits came in large numbers, heavily armed with AK-47 rifles,” the source said. “They first went straight to the house of the Chief Imam and took him away. From there, they moved to the house of the Fulani leader. That was when people started running for their lives.”
A woman was also kidnapped by the attackers during the raid, the source continued, and multiple cattle were rustled.
Residents of the impacted settlements, especially Kohoto, fled in large numbers to Kagarko town and nearby Sabon-Wuse for protection after the invasion.
The kidnappings allegedly occurred just days after the bandits gave the towns a seven-day ultimatum, demanding a ransom of ₦6 million to free a lady and her four children who had been abducted previously.
According to community elders, the attackers returned with further violence after the deadline passed without any rescue efforts or obvious security measures.
As fear and panic spreads throughout the region, residents in Kagarko LGA described the situation as catastrophic, with farms abandoned, villages abandoned, and economic activity stalled.
As of the time of filing this report, there has been no official statement from the Kaduna State Police Command or the state government on the latest abductions.
The federal and Kaduna State governments are now being urged by locals to send security troops to the region right now in order to secure the release of the kidnapped victims and stop additional attacks on already traumatised communities.
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