8 kidnapped in Kaduna village

By Hannah Nathan, Warri

When criminals raided the Dan-Honu II village in New Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State, eight people were taken hostage.

The Imam of the village mosque, his wife, and three children—including a 10-month-old baby—were among those kidnapped, along with a recent couple who were married last Saturday.

About ten robbers, some of them were masked and dressed in black, were reported to have assaulted the village on Tuesday night around 8:50 p.m. with AK-47 rifles and other hazardous weapons, according to a source who spoke to DAILY POST.

He clarified, “After a local citizen by the name of Alhaji Mohammed managed to escape being kidnapped by the whiskers, the bandits first seized the Imam and his family, whom they encountered outside the neighborhood Juma’at Mosque.

He stated that the couple was able to escape through the shattered window after the bandits began hammering on Alhaji Mohammed’s door and breaking the window.

As they were being led out of the village and into the bush, the Imam, Malam Suleiman, and his neighbor, Malam Musa, who had been picked while they were lounging outside the mosque grounds with Arabian tea, managed to flee.

Similarly, the kidnappers left the new wife, who was rumored to have had surgery lately, in the jungle when she was unable to keep up with their rapid pace of bushwalking.

When the baby’s cry nearly alerted vigilantes in the Kakura area to the bandits’ presence, the Imam’s wife was also released.

But finally, the criminals were able to kidnap Ibrahim, the imam’s new spouse, and two of his kids (15-year-old Abba and his younger sibling).

As of the time this report was filed, they had not yet established contact with the family.

While recounting his experience being held captive by the bandits, Imam Suleiman claimed that two of the seven abductors had AK-47 rifles fitted with bulletproof chains, while the other three had axes, machetes, and clubs.

According to ASP Mansur Hassan, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna State Police Command, investigators are still working to determine the incident’s actual cause.