Kaduna Mother Recounts How Bandits Killed Breastfeeding Baby, 4 Other Children

A 32-year-old woman, Mrs Alice Emmanuel, has recounted how armed bandits killed her one-year, three-month-old breastfeeding baby and four other children during the attack on Naridom village in Chawai Chiefdom, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Speaking through tears while clutching her chest, Mrs Emmanuel struggled to describe the pain of losing five children in one night.

“They killed my breastfeeding baby and four other children. My baby was just one year and three months old. I was breastfeeding the child when they came.”

Mrs Emmanuel and her husband, Emmanuel Garba, survived the attack after escaping through a window when the gunmen broke into their home in the dead of the night.

Her husband, Mr Emmanuel Garbo, who also survived the attack, said the family was asleep when the attackers allegedly broke into their home after smashing a window.

“We were sleeping when they came. They broke the window and surrounded the house,” Garba said.

He explained that after failing to force open one window, he managed to break another, creating an escape route for himself and his wife.

“It was a narrow escape. I escaped first and my wife followed through the same window. Some of the attackers followed her, but because they had no torchlights, she crawled on the ground until she escaped. God helped her, and they could not catch her,” he said.

Garba said all six of their children were shot in the head during the attack, adding that it was a targeted attack.

“My five children died after they were shot in the head, while our only surviving son, who is about 10 years old, was also shot in the head. He has not opened his eyes since the attack. We are praying that God will heal him,” he said.

The injured boy and other victims are receiving treatment at Kauna Nursing Home in Bakin Kogi, Kauru Local Government Area.

Garba also said the attackers razed his provision shop, destroying goods he estimated to be worth between N2.5 million and N3 million.

“That shop was where I provided for my family. Everything was burnt,” he lamented.

He alleged that the attackers spoke Fulfulde and celebrated after carrying out the attack.

“They were many. After they finished, they played music, sang and danced, saying they had succeeded,” he alleged.

The bereaved couple appealed to the federal and Kaduna State governments to deploy security personnel to the community, saying residents have been left without adequate protection and continue to live in fear.

“There is no security presence in our community. The bandits are still threatening us, and our people are living in fear. We need the government to protect us before they return and kill more innocent people,” Garba pleaded.

The attack on Naridom village is among a series of violent incidents recorded in Kauru local government area, with residents renewing calls for stronger security measures to end the recurring attacks and bring those responsible to justice.

Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report, the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, had yet to respond to calls and a text message seeking Command’s reaction to the attack.