Terrorists, in the early parts of Saturday, started a new assault on the Dogon-noma community, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, and took 15 women and a man.
The assault happened just three days after one person was killed, and eight women were taken in the Banono Angwaku community of the same local government council.
A resident of the area, Mr Istifanus Ma’aji, verified the number to Sunday PUNCH on Saturday.
The former chairman of the council, Cafra Caino, had formerly confirmed the recent assault to one of our correspondents.
Istifanus could only validate that 15 women and a man were taken.
He said, “We cannot officially confirm the total number, because most of the villagers fled when the attackers struck.
“We can only confirm the number when we can access the village.”
According to him, the attackers entered the village around 5.30am in large numbers and shot without aiming.
Caino said, “We have yet to get the number of casualties because the locals ran when the assailants invaded the community.
“The community had some time in 2019 come under heavy attack, leading to the loss of 74 persons; the community has recently been experiencing attacks.”
The Kajuru and Chikun local government areas had in recent weeks become the hotbed of attacks and kidnapping, causing tension in the state.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, did not take his calls and had yet to respond to text messages sent to him on the attack as of the time of filing this report.
Worried parents of schoolchildren
More than a week after gunmen took 287 schoolchildren in the Kuriga community, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, distressed parents of the pupils have expressed their angst about the lack of information regarding the rescue efforts.
They also grumbled that they had yet to get the appropriate aid from the Kaduna State Government.
A parent of one of the abducted pupils shared with one of our correspondents on the phone, “Since 2014, villages and communities such as Kwalakwangi, Dokan-Ruwa, Maikyasuwa, and Shadow have been deserted. All the 11 primary schools in those communities have been forcefully closed down for fear of attacks by bandits.
“At Old Kuyello due to the infiltration of the Ansaru (Boko Haram splinter group), only Arabic teaching is allowed in the primary school. The Ansaru dictates the curriculum based on its doctrine. These terrorists are a government and adjudicate in disputes in that area.”
A community leader in Kuriga, Jubrin Aminu, said since the abduction of the schoolchildren, there had been tension in the community, as most of the parents of the abducted were traumatized.
“The stage of their trauma can be compared to a sick person who needs oxygen to survive. We are worried that since the rushed arrangement for the governor to visit the community, no government official has visited us, and nobody is talking to us.
“The security situation in Kaduna is not improving.”
One of the parents claimed that Governor Uba Sani may have left them and gone to Morocco.
“We were very sad when we found out that the governor went to Morocco instead of staying here to try to rescue our children. He promised to protect lives and property, but we are sad that he is not showing enough concern for the issue at hand,” the parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
However, Sunday PUNCH investigations found that despite the claim, the governor did not leave the parents to their crisis by going to Morocco.
When the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Muhammed Shehu, was contacted, he denied that the governor traveled, saying, “The governor was in Kaduna and everyone saw him giving interviews, and he also met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the leadership of the House.
“Today (Friday), he attended a function in Kudenda and had a meeting with the National Security Adviser regarding the Kuriga community. He also gave interviews today (Friday) in Kaduna.”
Shehu appealed “for caution regarding unverified rumors so that we will not jeopardize the ongoing efforts towards rescuing the kidnap victims.”
Schools shut, communities deserted
After the mass kidnapping of 287 schoolchildren in Kuriga, over 40 primary schools have been closed for fear of being attacked, and many communities left empty.
The Education Secretary of the Chikun Local Government Area, Dr Ibrahim Bulus, revealed this on Saturday to one of our correspondents in Kaduna.
According to him, the schools were temporarily closed until the government could increase security in the troubled areas.
“If the government improves security in the troubled areas, we can reopen the schools next week. We have to ensure the safety of our students, which is more important.
“This is a big setback, particularly for us in the education sector.”
He added that the LGEA Primary Schools 1 and 2, Kuriga, were among the closed schools, in addition to those outside Udawa and LGEA Kaso village and schools outside Gwagwada and Kasarami clusters, adding some of the clusters had five to six schools.
A resident, who did not give his name, told Sunday PUNCH that following the attack on the Juma’at mosque at Unguwar Makera, Kuyello District, Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, residents of the area had relocated to Layin Dan-Auta (New Kuyello) for safety.
Several residents of communities bordering the Chikun and Igabi local government areas as well as the Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, such as Rumanan Gwari and Rumanan Hausa, located a few kilometers from Sabon Birni and the Kaduna airport have left the communities, alleging that terrorists have taken over.
Residents told our correspondents that aside from the massive closure of schools in the areas, settlements such as Labi and old Udawa in Birnin-Gwari bordering Udawa in the Chikun Local Government Area had also become ghost towns.
Following the attack on the Juma’at mosque at Unguwar Makera, Kuyello District in the Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, Sunday PUNCH learned that most residents of the area had relocated to Layin Dan-Auta for safety.
Aminu mentioned that people in villages and towns along the Birnin-Gwari-Funtua Road have left their communities because of attacks by terrorists.
Places like Farin-Batu, Kwasa-Kwasa, Gobirawa, old Birnin-Gwari, Layin Maigwari, Kirazo, Kiryoyi, and other communities along the route have become empty.
In the western part of Birnin-Gwari, especially the Kakangi District, which serves as an entrance to the Kamuku National Park and the feared Kuyanbana forest in Zamfara State, villages like Katakaki and five others were taken over by the terrorists. Additionally, schools and the health clinic built by the MDG in 2001 were shut down. In the Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, 46 primary schools have been closed due to insecurity.
Habila David, a resident of Kuriga, expressed that the community is now sorrowful after the abduction, which used to be lively with the sounds of children playing.
Since the terrorists attacked the local school and abducted many young pupils, the parents of the abducted children have been living in pain and hopelessness as they struggle with the reality of their worst fear, especially when the terrorists demanded N1bn ransom.
The pain of these parents is evident as they try to remain hopeful while dealing with fear. Their voices, once hidden by chaos, now echo with a collective request for justice and the safe return of their loved ones.
Following this terrible experience, the neglect suffered by these families from both state and federal authorities has only made their pain worse.
He added that the government's reaction to the Kuriga abduction has been criticized and has caused frustration among the affected families. Despite promises of quick action and increased efforts to rescue the kidnapped children, the reality on the ground tells a different story.
For many parents, the lack of tangible progress in securing the release of their children has strengthened their feeling of disappointment and reduced their trust in the authorities' ability to protect them. Their fear is genuine.
The obvious fact is that there are not enough security measures in place to protect schools and ensure the safety of the pupils, and the authorities are aware of the numerous armed groups in the Kaduna forests.
Considering this, and with proper intelligence gathering, they should be aware that educational institutions have become more vulnerable to kidnappers looking to extort money or advance their ideological agenda. One would have expected the government to provide adequate security in the schools and other vulnerable places.
Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, had asked President Bola Tinubu to let him open negotiation channels with the bandits to help release the schoolchildren.
He stated that Tinubu must learn from the past mistake of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to negotiate with the bandits.
The government's decision not to negotiate with the bandits is regrettable. I suggest that the government should allow discussions with the bandits not only for the abduction of these Kuriga schoolchildren, but for all similar cases.
The government should also apply the same method it used to free passengers who were kidnapped on the Abuja-Kaduna train in 2022 to free the Kuriga schoolchildren and others.
I am willing to lead a comprehensive discussion between the government and the bandits. It is my religious obligation to promote peace in this way.
I hope the current government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will heed the advice by engaging with the bandits because the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari refused to do so.
The CPS to the governor, Shehu, said the state government was making strenuous efforts to ensure the safe and prompt return of the schoolchildren, emphasizing that security agencies were working tirelessly to secure their release.
