Bandits Kill Man, Abduct Pregnant Wife, 4 Others In Kaduna

Bandits at the weekend killed a newly married man and abducted his pregnant wife in Jere town, Kagarko local government area of Kaduna State.

They also abducted four members of the family of a former commissioner for poverty alleviation in Kaduna State, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Jere.

The bandits who stormed the community were said to be over 50 and invaded the community along the Abuja-Kaduna highway on motorcycles. They moved from house-to-house until they located the home of the former commissioner.

He was not at home when the bandits arrived, but they abducted his wife, a baby girl, his younger sister and his wife’s sister.

Hassan Adamu Jere, a resident of the community who spoke to journalists, said the bandits also attacked the home of a newly married couple and attempted to abduct the bride but the groom had resisted and while dragging his wife with the bandits, they shot him dead.

Hassan said there was tension in the community as youths expressed anger that despite the presence of soldiers, divisional police office and area command, security agents failed to tackle the bandits who operated for over three hours.

“We made several calls to the various security agencies on ground and they all ignored us. This is the second major attack on our community in the last three months and we feel that the security agents stationed here are of no use to us,” Adamu Jere, a resident said.

Ibrahim Salisu, another resident, said the community would lodge a formal protest against security agents in Jere, adding that their action portrayed them as people who “are either colluding with the bandits or people who do not care about the security of the people.”

He said hours after the bandits had escaped, security agents made efforts to trail them and later informed the community that they had successfully killed two of them.

Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) ASP Mohammed Jalige, did not pick his calls to react to the attack and failed to respond to missed calls on his phone at the time of  filing this report.