No fewer than six persons have been reported dead and nine others kidnappers by gunmen after attacking communities in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The bandits were said to have attacked with impunity, targeting defenceless villagers and exploiting the absence of local vigilantes.
It was learnt that the gunmen in a double assault, first gunning down six residents in cold blood and then returning hours later to abduct nine villagers, including three children
Community members described the raid as particularly bold, with the gunmen moving from house to house to kidnap their victims amid chaos and gunfire.
The first attack occurred when the bandits invaded the community and killed six residents who were resting under a tree, before escaping.
They returned hours later at about 10:12 pm, wielding AK-47 rifles, and invaded two homes belonging to Muazu Shehu and Bala Ya’u in the Akwondo community of Kachia Local Government Area..
A community member, Garba Tanimu, recounted to newsmen on Thursday how the gunmen dragged away six male adults and three children aged between 12 and 15, whisking them into the bush through the Maraban Wolijo axis leading toward Kachia town.
“The reason the bandits operated so freely when they returned was that they had already succeeded in killing the six young men who usually pursued them to rescue abducted victims,” he said.
“They felt comfortable enough to return because they knew nobody would challenge them so they came and took away more victims without anyone to confront them.”
A community leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the abduction of the nine individuals and lamented the ongoing siege on the area since November last year, which has forced many residents to flee their homes and abandon their farms.
“The truth is that the Akwondo community is under siege. Those six young men were the ones who always prevented these bandits from abducting our people, but now that they have been killed, we are vulnerable,” the leader said.
He added that no contact has been established with the abductors and appealed to security agencies to urgently intervene to secure the release of the victims and protect the community.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Hassan Mansur, had not responded to inquiries about the incident at the time of filing this report.
However, a police source in the area disclosed that operatives are actively trailing the bandits.
