Gunmen abducted numerous residents from villages in Kajuru LGA and Kauru LGA of Kaduna State on Thursday evening. In what appears to be a coordinated series of raids.
According to the counter-insurgency outlet Zagazola Makama, the assaults began at the villages of Agwallan Centre, Janwuriya and Afogo in Kajuru LGA, where armed assailants “whisked away an unspecified number of people who were returning from their farms.”
Later the same night, the gunmen reportedly struck the villages of Kallah and Aokpeshura, also in Kajuru LGA, firing into the air and abducting even women and children.
In Kallah village, residents identified among the abducted were Simon Audi, 29; Beuty Audu, 23; and a six-month-old baby, Holliness Simon.
One resident, Enoch Simon (40), was later rescued, while Anthony Saidu (32) and Jenecy Obasanjo (20) were taken to a hospital in Kujama after sustaining injuries.
The attacks are reportedly linked to a repentant bandit known as Babban Gayya, who allegedly orchestrated the operation in retaliation for the killing of some of his men by military operatives.
On the same day, gunmen also moved from house to house in Kuyan Bana village, Kauru LGA, abducting an unconfirmed number of residents after opening fire.
Troops were reportedly mobilised to the affected areas, cordoning off nearby forests and launching search-and-rescue operations.
Efforts to obtain comment from the state police command spokesperson, Mansir Hassan, were unsuccessful.
Authorities are urging affected communities to cooperate with security operatives and report any unusual activity in the forest corridors around Kajuru and Kauru LGAs.
