John Shiklam in Kaduna
Five people, including three brothers, have been abducted by gunmen in Chikun and Birnin Gwari Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
In Chikun, the bandits were said to have invaded the resident of a businessman, Mr. Christian Obi, located at Tanko Kokwein Street, Sabon Tasha GRA, about 2:00a.m.
His three children with the ages of 31, 28 and 21 were abducted by the hoodlums.
A resident in the area said the bandits were about 20 in number and were shooting sporadically during the operation which he said lasted for over one hour.
According to him, “The gunmen were about 20 in number, and went straight to Mr. Obi’s house.
“They entered the house through the fence and broke the door to the kitchen. They tried to break the front door but couldn’t, so they went through the kitchen door.
“They operated for over an hour, because it was difficult for them to open the door. Even when the police came, the bandits were still operating in the house.
“The police stayed at a distance without making any effort to confront them.
“All residents were scared and nobody could do anything since we weren’t armed.”
The incident in Birnin Gwari was said to have occurred last Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m., when the gunmen, wearing military uniform, intercepted a commercial vehicle along the Birnin Gwari road by Unguwan Yako and consequently abducted two of the passengers in the vehicle.
The spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mr. Yakubu Sabo, confirmed the incidents in a statement yesterday in Kaduna.
Sabo said: “On December 19, 2019, the Kaduna State Police Command received information of two separate unfortunate incidents of kidnapping through DPO Buruku and Sabon Tasha respectively to the effect that on December 18, 2019, at about 1430hours, unknown gunmen in military uniform intercepted a commuting vehicle on Birnin Gwari Road by Unguwan Yako and consequently kidnapped two occupants to unknown destination.
“The victims were identified as Alhaji Yahaya Kudu, the district head of Birnin Gwari, and Alhaji Ibrahim Musa, former education secretary of Birnin Gwari LGA.
“Similar unfortunate incident of kidnapping was recorded at Sabon Tasha in Chikun LGA where three persons, namely: Jonathan Obi, Joakin Obi and Benjamin Obi, all of the same address were kidnapped around 0200hours of Thursday by suspected hoodlums to unknown destination.
“On receipt of the information, police operatives from the Anti-kidnapping unit, SARS and the IRT were immediately drafted to the two areas.
“The bushes around the two areas were thoroughly combed with a view to rescuing the victims and apprehending the culprits to face justice.”
Sabo said the police command is deeply saddened by the unfortunate incidents, and is doing everything possible to apprehend the culprits and rescue the victims unhurt.
He said the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ali Aji Janga, is calling on the public not to be deterred by the incidents as the Command is already on top of the situation to ensure that the victims are safely rescued and the yuletide season is peacefully celebrated without apprehension.
