₦airaland Forum

Bandits have kidnapped a serving councillor, Hon. David Ali Gwantu, in the Southern Kaduna area of Kaduna State.

Gwantu, who represents Gwantu Ward in Sanga Local Government Council, was abducted in the early hours of Friday.

The incident occurred shortly after midnight at his residence in Gwantu town, where the assailants reportedly stormed the house and whisked him away in the presence of his family members.

On Sunday, SaharaReporters reported that seven victims, mostly minors, killed in Southern Kaduna last week, were laid to rest on Saturday, August 29, 2025, in Unguwan Rimi village, Kauru Local Government Area.

“They were laid to rest in their community by their families, religious leaders, and others,” a community source told SaharaReporters’ New York office via WhatsApp on Sunday.

Last Monday, SaharaReporters reported that a deadly terrorist attack had claimed seven lives in Southern Kaduna, despite the peace agreement reached between the Kaduna State Government and bandit leaders.

SaharaReporters reported that heavily armed attackers struck late last Sunday night into the early hours of Monday, killing seven people, mostly minors.

Sources told SaharaReporters that several adults managed to escape.

In a related development, a community leader reported that bandits also targeted Kokob-Bajaga village in Kajuru Local Government Area last Tuesday.

Kaduna’s Peace Pact With Bandits

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State government, in collaboration with federal agencies, launched what it called the “Kaduna Model”—a holistic peace initiative aimed at addressing both the symptoms and root causes of insecurity.

The pact involved direct engagement with notorious bandit leaders operating in areas like Birnin Gwari and Giwa.

These were not petty criminals; they were warlords like Yellow Jambros and Dogo Gide, men accused of mass killings, kidnappings, and extortion across Kaduna and neighboring states.

Yet, under the new peace deal, many of them laid down their arms. Around 200 fighters reportedly surrendered, some even enrolling in government-run rehabilitation programs.

The initiative included promises of disarmament, reintegration, and rural development. Roads once feared, like the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway, reopened, and villagers began returning to their homes.

The government touted these as signs of progress, a fragile hope in a region long defined by despair.

Still, the pact was not without controversy. Critics, including Christian leaders and other stakeholders, voiced concern over the lack of transparency and the exclusion of victims from the peace process.

The Northwest Governors Forum had previously agreed to reject negotiations with criminals, making Kaduna’s unilateral move a bold departure.

Governor Uba Sani defended the approach as a “carrot-and-stick” strategy, insisting that peace must be pursued from a position of strength.

helinues:
The kind of politics they are playing in North is really funny

helinues:
The kind of politics they are playing in North is really funny

On Sunday, SaharaReporters reported that seven victims, mostly minors, killed in Southern Kaduna last week, were laid to rest on Saturday, August 29, 2025, in Unguwan Rimi village, Kauru Local Government Area.

AMINDA:
Now that it is time for Tinubu to take responsibility for insecurity, you are narrowing it down to politics. Is it also politics that is playing out in parts of Kwara that has been overrun by bandits? This news is only making the airwaves because the kidnapped is somewhat high profile otherwise, it would be suppressed by the media as is now the case with reportage of insecurity in the country.

helinues:
So you are waiting for president Tinubu to come and beg the Northerners to stop causing insecurity in their own region?

helinues:
The kind of politics they are playing in North is really funny

AMINDA:
This right here is why Tambuwal said Tinubu has no knowledge about leading a country like Nigeria. He's only concerned with cornering everything to Lagos. He would have done better as a premier of the western region. He only wants the perks of governance without the responsibility. I guess the people of Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and elsewhere had better resort to self help or die waiting. Not so?

Brendaniel:
So Media is suppressing information on the killings still going on southern Kaduna to give false credit to Tinubu, may their souls rest in peace

seunmsg:
El-Rufai has activated his kidnapping squad to unleash terror on the state just to discredit the effort of the Uba Sani administration.

Dannyset:
They are back at it. The Politically Displaced Individual. Anytime someone goes on air to praise Uba Sani, the Kaduna State Governor about the relative peace in Southern Kaduna, the disgruntled politicians will strike immediately.

Foolish people

helinues:
The kind of politics they are playing in North is really funny

AMINDA:
Except that you are only hearing about this because the victim is somewhat high-profile. The killings all across Kaduna never stopped. It just got suppressed. Your Tinubu is C-in-C in case he forgot. He must really hate the people of Southern Kaduna to know those behind the killings and yet fail to persecute them.

Dannyset:
It is being suppressed but somehow you hear of them because you live in Kaduna? And why can't you report the news too or you are being suppressed too?

Over 20 Middlebelt Activists who reported the various incidents of killing in SK then now agree that the security is better now.

So who are you in the scheme of things?

AMINDA:
Activists? You mean cashtivists? Who are these 20 Middlebelt Activists? List them here let us peruse through their credentials and profile. Would you have heard about this news if Sahara reporters never reported it? Which other news media featured it? Where did all the news about Fulani herdsmen disappear to? Lol

Dannyset:
We should not believe them, but we should believe you, because who exactly are you?

I have seen you suffer heavy defeat here as a result of the things that came out of your mouth but turned out to return to your face void.

I ask you again, who are you in the scheme of things?

helinues:
The kind of politics they are playing in North is really funny

AMINDA:
This right here is why Tambuwal said Tinubu has no knowledge about leading a country like Nigeria. He's only concerned with cornering everything to Lagos. He would have done better as a premier of the western region. He only wants the perks of governance without the responsibility. I guess the people of Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and elsewhere had better resort to self help or die waiting. Not so?

jmoore:
Which one are they playing in the south?

Tinubu has run away from Nigeria because of insecurity. And you are blaming north for the incompetency of Tinubu in fighting insecurity.