The spate of insecurity across the country, particularly in the northern region, has hit Kuchi community of Munya local government area of Niger state.
Criminals hit North
The north has been under various attacks from bandits, kidnappers and other related criminals, a development that has continued to generate concerns among stakeholders.
For instance, until recently when security agencies hit hard at them, bandits held sway in Zamfara, while kidnappers were also on rampage in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi among others.
Niger
The trend however seems to be spreading fast to neighbouring states, including Niger, where gunmen recently stormed Kuchi community as family members were preparing for a wedding event, and abducted eight nursing mothers, four babies, the youngest being two-month-old, all from the same extended family.
In its wake, the criminals killed a cousin who walked into the crime scene while they were moving out of the premises, and also injured two other relations.
The event, Blueprint gathered, occurred Thursday with the abductors demanding N800 million ransom to free the victims.
With six days gone by without any tangible result, the family pleaded with the state government to come to their rescue.
Head of the family, Alhaji Salisu Afakallah, said this Monday while speaking with newsmen in Minna.
He said the abducted women were nursing mothers and wives of his younger brothers who had gathered for the wedding on Thursday about 11.30pm.
Afakallah stated that a cousin who unknowingly walked into the bandits as they were leaving the premises was shot dead while two other men sustained injuries.
“The gunmen, who were many, forced the gate of the family house open about 11:30 pm and rounded up everyone in the house. Some of the family members had assembled for a wedding nearby and the assailants took advantage of the ceremony to carry out the raid,” Afakallah said.
And on the following day (Friday), he further said, the kidnappers got in touch with the family asking for a ransom of N800 million as condition for releasing the victims.
Afakallah said the family had no means of raising the amount demanded by the abductors, as “all our efforts to beat down the amount has proved abortive”.
He said family members and the entire community were mostly concerned about the plight of the little children in captivity.
“Some of the children are barely two-month-old, we don’t know the situation which they are in and we are very worried,” he lamented.
He appealed to the state government to intervene by ensuring the release of those in captivity, saying there was no way the family could raise the ransom demanded by the hoodlums.
Acting chairman of the local government council, Mr Joshua Musa, confirmed the development, and said security operatives were on top of the situation.
He said from security reports available to him, all the abducted persons were women, while one person was shot during the attack.
Police
However, when contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state police command, DSP Mohammed Abubakar, promised to get back to our reporter, which he never did as at the time of this report.
Governor calls for vigilance
In a related development, Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello, has called for extra-vigilance among stakeholders as a necessary measure to stem the tide of growing insecurity in the country.
Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Jibrin Baba Ndace, who said this Tuesday in a statement, quoted the governor as expressing the need for collective security and extra-vigilance from all stakeholders in order to address the situation.
The statement did not however address the kidnap saga in Kuchi community.
“Security agencies cannot handle the increasing insecurity alone, hence the need for a functional collaboration with traditional and religious rulers as well as community participation in addressing the challenges,” the statement said.
The governor advised communities, especially those within the borders of Zamfara and Kaduna states where military operation to flush out the miscreants is currently ongoing, “to be vigilant, cooperate with security agencies and report suspicious persons, who might be lurking around their villages.”
“There is high probability that some of the fleeing criminals may find their way into neighbouring states, so we must all be vigilant and proactive in order to identify, isolate and apprehend them.”
He, however, advised all the citizens not to take laws into their hands by carrying out ‘jungle justice’ on the criminals, saying any one apprehended must be handed over to security agencies for prosecution.
