harrowing news of the attack on the residents of the Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State by gun-wielding bandits.

The bandits, who struck shortly after midnight, abducted 18 persons, including four nursing mothers and their babies and 10 men.

The Chairman, Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives Union, Salisu Haruna, said the AK-47 wielding bandits raided house to house, searching for foodstuff and looted other property.

In March, 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna, were abducted by bandits. In a viral five-minute video released by the kidnappers, the abducted students were seen crying and appealing to the government to pay the N500m ransom demanded by their abductors.


In the heart-wrenching video, some of the students spoke about the difficult atmosphere they were in, adding that they were not fed and also slept in the open and sometimes under rain. The bandits also warned that the students would never be seen alive by their parents should any attempt be made to rescue them without ransom payment.

One of the distraught fathers of the abducted students was said to have died after watching the video and seeing his daughter’s trauma.

It was gathered that the student was ordered by the bandits to appeal to their parents in Hausa where she said their abductors warned that none of them would return home alive if attempts were made to rescue them alive.

However, in a statement titled, ‘Surrender to criminals is not an option – KDSG’, the state governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, stated that ransom payment had not curbed crimes and kidnapping in the country.

He said, “The fact that criminals now seek to hold the government by the jugular does not mean the government should surrender and create an incentive for more crime.

A few days later, 10 of the students were released after 56 days of being in captivity and others were released to their parents.

Two weeks after the kidnap of the students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna, while on their way from Kaduna to Kachia in preparation for the church’s ‘Let’s Go a Fishing’ Easter programme, eight members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God were abducted by bandits. The bandits ordered them out of their bus into their own (bandits’) vehicle. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of N50m for their release.


After about two weeks in captivity, the kidnapped members of the RCCG regained freedom. In a tweet confirming their release, the church’s General Overseer, Enoch Adeboye, wrote, “Today I got the exciting news that our brethren who were in the captivity of kidnappers have all been released and taken to the hospital for checkup and tests. Glory be to Jesus.”

In April, news filtered in about the kidnap of about 20 students of the Greenfield University, in Kaduna State. The university, a privately-owned institution, was invaded by bandits and the students including a staff of the varsity were abducted.

The bandits later contacted their victims’ parents, demanding a ransom of N800m for their release. However, in a sad turn of events, the kidnappers, in a show of force, reportedly killed three of the abducted students and their remains were dumped in a village close to the university.

El-Rufai, condemning the kidnap and killing of some of the students, called it a sheer act of wickedness, inhumanity and an outright desecration of human lives by vile entities.

He stated that the bandits represented the worst of humankind and must be fought at all cost for the violent wickedness that they represented. He added that evil would not triumph over God-given humanity and urged citizens to come together against the forces of darkness challenging national security and the country’s existence.

Thirty-nine days after their kidnap, the students were released to their parents. Although the police failed to reveal whether a ransom was paid for their release, it was gathered that the bandits reduced the ransom from the initial N800m to N100m and 10 motorcycles, asking the parents to pay N10m each to secure their children’s freedom. However, some parents and family members of the remaining kidnapped students and workers of the university said they were forced to sell their property to raise ransom. It was learnt that the bandits collected N180m ransom and eight new motorcycles.

In June, eight students and two lecturers of the Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, were abducted when the main campus was attacked by bandits. The bandits it was gathered invaded the campus at about 11pm, raiding the staff quarters and shooting at anyone in sight.


During the raid, two students were hit by bullets and unfortunately, one of them died of wounds caused by the gunshot.

However, according to the Public Relations Officer of the polytechnic, Abdullahi Shehu, after almost 28 days of being in captivity, the students and lecturers regained freedom following negotiations between the parents of the students and the bandits. The PRO, however, failed to state whether ransom was paid to secure their release.

In the early hours of Monday, July 5, bandits attacked the Bethel Baptist High School, a co-education college established by the Baptist Church in 1991 at Maramara village in Chikun district outside the state capital.

According to the police, the kidnappers stormed the school premises, shooting indiscriminately and making away with the students. The police further stated that over 165 pupils were in the school when the bandits struck but 25 were rescued, including a female teacher.

The governor, who also condemned the act, described it as an unfortunate development and an untold evil to humanity.

However, the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev Israel Akanji, stated that the school’s management had been contacted by the bandits demanding food items as they said the children were dying of hunger. He added that though the church was opposed to the payment of ransom, they were not averse to paying for the release of the students if that was the only option left.

Akanji said, “Children are priceless and human life is higher than any money, that is why the parents feel they can pay any amount to secure the release of their children. It is not our choice to ever pay a ransom, but as a last resort, if that is what it takes not to lose our children, then we will know that we have been boxed in. That is the only thing that can lead us to the issue of ransom.’’


On July 11, in a bold and unprecedented move, the 85-year-old Emir of Kajuru, Alhaji Alhassan Adamu, along with 13 members of his family was abducted by bandits in the early hours of Sunday.

According to the police, the weapon-wielding bandits gained access into the emir’s palace, shooting indiscriminately and abducted him and some members of his immediate family, taking them to an unknown location.

A day after his kidnap, the spokesperson for the Kajuru Emirate Council, Dahiru Abubakar, announced that the aged emir’s abductors demanded a ransom of N200m to secure his release.

Fortunately, the emir regained freedom two days after and while being welcomed by his subjects, he burst into tears. It was, however, not revealed whether the ransom demanded was paid or not. Speaking on the rising cases of banditry in the state, the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna State chapter, John Hayab, stated that the attacks had been strengthened by government’s inaction.

He said in a country where there was a constitution on rule of law, there was no part of the constitution that allowed ordinary citizens to bear arms against their fellow citizens.

He stated, “Our laws clearly state that those found with weapons should be arrested and prosecuted, but there have been killings in various parts of the country carried out by people wielding guns and knives. Those people responsible for these acts have never been brought to book nor are any of them serving jail terms.”

He added that even upon arrest of the bandits, they were kept in police custody for a while until the matter became forgotten.


He stated, “In 2018, the Chief of Adara was abducted along with his wife and driver. However, after his wife and driver were released, the monarch was killed by his abductors. About a year later, the police informed the family that his abductors had been apprehended, but until now, nothing more has been said or done. It is events like this that embolden other criminals as they now know that the government can only talk but have no action.”

He further stated that as long as the government continued to pay lip service to criminals, they would not stop their acts, noting that the moment the government started to seriously prosecute acts of banditry and make bandits face the full wrath of the law, there would be a chance in the fight against bandits.

Hayab noted that another factor worsening the killings in Kaduna State was the entrenched division created by the utterance and inactions of the government.

He said “Kaduna State has been divided into a “we versus them” state as it is now a case of either Muslims versus Christians or southerners versus northerners, which really should not be the case. Any responsible government should unite and work with all of its citizens to ensure the safety of lives and property. But when you have a divisive pattern of administering justice, criminals will leverage off this and continue to perpetuate crimes unchecked. A united community can easily fight any criminal but in a divided community, the criminals can tear them apart.”

The cleric stated that it never failed to amuse him when people concluded that the killings in the state were fuelled by farmers-herders crisis, adding that it was a tag that suited their narrative.

He said, “It is almost like a person who has a certain ailment but rather than treating it with the correct medication, chooses instead to use another type of medicine and calls the disease another name altogether. You can only treat a sickness when you identify what exactly it is and administer the appropriate medication. Some criminals have only hijacked the unfortunate situation to perpetuate crimes. Criminals hide under the guise of the farmers-herders clashes to carry out crimes on Christians and Muslims in Kaduna and other parts of northern Nigeria.”

A sister to one of the abducted students of the Bethel Baptist High School, Caroline Emmanuel, said the anxious relatives had yet to get any fresh information concerning the students.


She said, “The government is not sharing any information with the parents and relatives of the abducted children regarding their plans on rescuing them for security reasons. All we can do right now is to hope and pray.”
https://punchng.com/kaduna-bandits-go-haywire-security-experts-urge-action-to-halt-abductions-amid-govt-helplessness/?

In the words of Arewa"The North Is Safe".

I hate it when the yoruba media starts to paint the north as unsafe when actually, it's their own region that is burning with cult killings and agberos running amok.

Face your region and stop talking about the north.

Kaduna1stson:
I hate it when the yoruba media starts to paint the north as unsafe when actually, it's their own region that is burning with cult killings and agberos running amok.

Face your region and stop talking about the north.

The north is living in self deception. Imagine with all the satelites, we can not locate bandits, but IRT can locate Igboho and Kanu, lets us continue.

BobbyZrealist:
In the words of Arewa"The North Is Safe".

Bery bery safe.

Bandits collecting money through banks and we have NIN, BVN and nobody can see them. Continue.

Kaduna1stson:
I hate it when the yoruba media starts to paint the north as unsafe when actually, it's their own region that is burning with cult killings and agberos running amok.

Face your region and stop talking about the north.

You’re right north is safe

Grace001:


You’re right north is safe

Very safe that parents are paying ransome to get the children free after paying school fees and nobody is arrested.

She this na country?there is no different between Somalia,Afghanistan and Nigeria...extremely useless country