Bandits kidnap military officer’s wife, 6 others in Kaduna

Bandits on Tuesday night, struck at the Millennium City Kaduna and kidnapped the wife of a military officer and six others at the Keke ‘A’ and Keke B communities.

Although the Kaduna State Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Muhammad Jalige was yet to confirm the incident, people in the affected area told journalists that the hoodlums attacked the communities at about 11pm.

According to a resident, “the bandits operated for about an hour before security operatives came. They went away with 3 persons at Keke ‘A’. They targeted a big house in the area.”

“The bandits came around 11pm. I think their main target was a house at Keke A. The house belongs to a military officer. But the time of the attack, the officer was not at home. So, the kidnappers broke into the house and picked his wife.”

“They also kidnapped another man who is the immediate neighbour of the military officer. In fact, the neighbour was picked alongside his 8-year old daughter, but they eventually dropped the daughter when her mother was shouting on top on her voice”.

“I think it was at the point they started shooting sporadically to scare away people who might think of coming to their aid.

While all that was happening, another man who was just returning home in his car at ran into the kidnappers. He was the third person that was taken away.”

“Other people who were still outside including neighborhood shops operators escaped the bandits, as they had to run to safety. As at this morning, we saw many shoes on the ground and we became scared that, those must be the shoes of the people kidnapped. But, one of the people who escaped the attack told us the shoes belonged to those who ran away.”

At Keke ‘B’, a resident said “a man, his wife and their two house girls were kidnapped by the bandits. I was so terrified. I just got out of the bathroom abruptly and switched-off all the lights inside my house. The gunshots were so close, it was like the bandits were inside my compound. I later discovered that one man, his wife and their two house girls were kidnapped.”

In a related development, 5 people were reportedly kidnapped on Monday from Gwando village in Kajuru LGA.

Journalists were told that the kidnappers rode into the village around 7pm and took the 5 locals after others had scampered for safety.

According to a source, “Gwando village is not far from Roboh village where worshipers were abducted on Sunday around 7am after killing 3 people.”

“Gwando is also before Dogon noma and Maikori villages where 32 people were killed on 5th June, allegedly with the aid of a helicopter, though the state government denied it on 9th June – four days after the villages were attacked, explaining that the helicopter was there to repel the bandits.”

“What is happening around these rural communities is that armed kidnappers are ‘harvesting’ human beings. They followed them into their communities or farms and kidnapped those they can and kill those who resist. Then they asked for ransoms in figures their victims had never seen.” (Vanguard)