• Invade Sabo GRA, Oil Village, set house ablaze, abduct 8
John Shiklam in Kaduna
The pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Nariya, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Rev. Dauda Bature, has been killed by his abductors after 30 days in captivity.
The sad incident occurred Thursday as dare devil bandits invaded parts of Sabon Tasha GRA, Oil Village and Anguwan Bulus areas of Kaduna metropolis, abducting eight residents including a policeman and his family.
Bature was abducted on his farm on November 8, 2021.
His abductors were said to have demanded N5 million as ransom.
It was gathered that after negotiations, his wife went to deliver an undisclosed amount of money to the criminals in the bush.
It was further learnt that after collecting the money, she too was kidnapped by her husband’s captors.
The bandits released her on December 6, 2021, to go and raise money money for her husband’s release.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Joseph Hayab, confirmed the killing of the clergy man.
“It was yesterday (Friday) that the information came when our pastors were at a conference and the leaders of the church went to officially tell the wife that her husband is no more, so that they don’t continue negotiations with the bandits,” Hayab said.
Meanwhile, residents of Sabon Tasha, Oil Village and Anguwan Bulus areas of Kaduna metropolis had a sleepless night as bandits invaded the areas Thursday and the early hours of Saturday, abducting eight people.
The hoodlums were said to have invaded Sabon Tasha GRA and Anguwan Bulus simultaneously in the early hours of Saturday.
The residents said the bandits who came at about 1am were repelled by soldiers who responded to distressed calls.
The hoodlums were said to have burnt a house located at Tanko Kokwain Street after they forced their way to the house only to discover that there was nobody around.
Hayab said: “The bandits broke into a house at Tanko Kokwain Street, but when they discovered that there was no one in the house, they set it ablaze.
“They came in large number and were shooting indiscriminately, some of them were wearing military uniforms.
“The entire community was gripped by fear, everybody was helpless, because we cannot stand their weapons.”
According to him, the arrival of soldiers led to the rescue of a pregnant woman and her son who were abducted by the bandits.
In the attack on Oil Village located near the GRA, a mother and her four children were said to have been abducted.
The bandits had in an earlier attack on Anguwan Bulus, also located near the Sabo GRA, abducted a policeman, his wife and son.
It was learnt that the policeman, said to be serving in Abuja, came to visit his family when the bandits struck.
Confirming the GRA attack in a statement, Mohammad Jalige, the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, said the bandits invaded GRA and Oil Village at about 1am on Saturday.
He added that in Sabo GRA, the bandits set a house ablaze, while a mother and her four children were abducted in Oil Village.
He said: “The Kaduna Police Command through Divisional Police Officer Sabon Tasha Division Kaduna acted on a distress call received from a good Samaritan to the fact that some suspected bandits numbering about 30 with some in military gears and bearing dangerous weapons, were making ferocious effort to break into a residential area at Sabo GRA in Chikun LGA of the state in an attempt to commit heinous crime.
“on receiving the distress call, operatives were immediately mobilized with the support of other security agents to the scene with a view to thwart the bandit’s intention.
“The criminals, on sensing the presence of security agents, started shooting indiscriminately.
“The criminals, being frustrated by the police and other security agents, set the resident on fire and fled for their lives.
“Unfortunately, it was discovered that the bandits operated simultaneously with one at oil village in the same Sabo location where they kidnapped a woman and her four children to an unknown destination.”
He said further that investigation into the two incidences had since commenced while effort were being made to rescue of the victims.
