Bandits Invade Kaduna Communities, Whisk Army officer’s Wife, 6 Others Away
By: Femi Mustapha
The wife of an Army officer and six other persons have been reported kidnapped in the late hours of Tuesday 22nd June 2022 when bandits attacked Keke ‘A’ and Keke B areas of the New Millennium City, Chikun local government area of Kaduna State.
The kidnap attack, according to residents of the area, started around 11pm and lasted for an hour before security operatives could come close to resist the gunmen.
A resident of the area said three persons were kidnapped by the bandits at Keke ‘A’.
According to the source, who is a primary school teacher, the bandits were suspected to have targeted a big house at Keke A in their abduction mission.
According to her, “the bandits came around 11 pm. I think their main target was a house at Keke A. The house belongs to a military officer. But at the tie of the attack, the officer was not at home. So, the kidnappers broke into the house and picked his (military officer’s) wife.
“They also kidnapped another man who is from the immediate neighborhood of the military officer.
“In fact, the neighbour was picked alongside his eight-year-old daughter, but they eventually dropped the daughter when her mother was shouting on top of 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 that time ran into the kidnappers. He was the third person who was taken away,” the source said.
She also said that many people who were still outside, including neighbourhood shop operators, escaped the bandits, as they had to run to safety.
“As in 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 belong to those who ran away.”
A resident of Keke ‘B’, told our correspondent that he had just returned home and was taking his shower when he started hearing gunshots.
He, however, said that a man, his wife, and their two house girls were kidnapped in Keke ‘B’.
“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,” the resident said.
When contacted Kaduna State Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Muhammad Jalige confirmed the incident, saying that efforts were on to rescue the kidnapped victims.
DSP Jalige explained that, men of the Millennium City Division got the distress call on time when the bandits struck, but that, the troops were misled to another location by direction of gunshots from the bandits and before they got the location; the bandits had escaped with the victims.
