Gunmen kill Kaduna man, abduct his family and others

Suspected bandits have killed a man named Sikiru and kidnapped his wife, two children, and eight others. This happened during a midnight attack on Babban Saura community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The attack took place around 1am on Thursday. It caused panic among residents as the attackers broke into three houses and took several people.

A community member said the bandits first went to an elderly man's house. They took two of his children before heading to Sikiru’s house. The source said the bandits jumped over the fence of Sikiru’s home and entered the house.

According to the source, Sikiru tried to fight back against the attackers. He struggled with some of them but was overpowered and killed. Afterward, the bandits took his wife and two children.

The bandits also attacked a nearby house, taking a woman and her four children. Soldiers and local vigilantes later rescued the woman, but her four children are still missing.

The commander of the local vigilantes, Usman Adamu, confirmed the incident. He said nine people were taken at first. Adamu explained that they got a distress call about the attack and quickly informed the soldiers.

He said, “We received a distress call that bandits had entered Babban Saura PW, and so we informed soldiers who joined us. We traced them to the Eastern Bypass area and succeeded in rescuing a woman, Maman Mubarak, whose four children were among those kidnapped.”

Adamu mentioned that while they tried to save the other victims, the bandits managed to escape with them. He added that their focus remains on rescuing those still held captive.

“We made efforts to rescue the other victims, but the bandits succeeded in escaping with them. We are still concerned about the safety of those abducted,” he said.

A neighbour of Sikiru, who only gave his name as Anas, said Sikiru called him after the attackers came into the community. “He called me after they entered the community. We were all worried because we could hear that the attackers were moving from one house to another,” Anas said.

Sympathisers gathered at Sikiru’s home on Thursday. Residents are worried about the growing insecurity in the area. This attack happened just days after bandits invaded the Kadaure community nearby. They reportedly killed a man and stole his cattle.

These incidents have raised serious concerns among residents about their safety. Efforts to get a response from the Kaduna State Police Command did not succeed. The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansur Hassan, was unavailable by phone and had not replied to a text message by the time this report was filed.