• Invade Sabo GRA, set house ablaze, abduct eight
John Shiklam in Kaduna
After 30 days in captivity, bandits have killed a pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Nariya, Igabi Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Rev. Dauda Bature.
The incident occurred on Thursday as bandits invaded parts of Sabon Tasha GRA, Oil Village and Anguwan Bulus in Kaduna metropolis, abducting eight residents including a policeman and his family.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph Hayab disclosed the killing of the clergyman while the Kaduna State Police Command, Mohammad Jalige confirmed the invasion of Sabon Tasha GRA.
Bature was abducted on his farm on November 8, 2021.His abductors were said to have demanded for N5 million ransoms. After negotiations, it was gathered, his wife delivered an undisclosed amount of money to the bandits in the bush.
It was further gathered that, after collecting the money, she too was kidnapped by her husband’s captors. The bandits released her on December 6 to go and look for raise money for her husband’s release.
Confirming Bature’s killing yesterday, Hayab said: “It was 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.”
Meanwhile, residents of Sabon Tasha GRA, Oil Village and Anguwan Bulus, areas of Kaduna metropolis had a sleepless nights as bandits visited them with terror on 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.
Residents said the bandits, who came at about 1:00 a.m., 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.
One of the residents explained that 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.
He said: “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 attacked 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 yesterday, the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mohammad Jalige 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 armed 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.”
Receiving the distress call, according to the spokesman, operatives were immediately mobilised with the support of other security agents to the scene with a view to thwart the bandit’s intention.
He said: “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 flee 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 was being made to rescue of the victims.
