5 escapes
By Gabriel Udeh, Kaduna
Heavily Armed bandits Have reportedly invaded a community at the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis and abducted no fewer than 18 persons.
The bandits reportedly stormed Keke Community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State in early hours of Tuesday and abducted 18 residents.
Eyewitness said the gunmen numbering about 20, invaded the area with sophisticated weapons, shooting sporadically and whisked the victims away.
The Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, ASP Mohammed Jalige could not respond until the time of filling the report.
…However, 5 of the 18 kaduna abducted victims have escaped from Brandits while being herded along bush paths into the forest.
One of the escapees, Engineer Usman Ibrahim said the kidnappers came into the community in the late hours of Monday evening while it was raining and moved from one house to another, apprehending them.
According to him, eighteen of them including women and children were among the kidnapped. He said he escaped by running into a rice farm, but three of his family members were taken away by the kidnappers.
Another victim Alkasim Sai’d was said to have been kidnapped along with two of his uncles.
One of the uncles is said to be the caretaker of Alkasim Sai’d’s poultry farm, while the second uncle was said to have come visiting a day before the incident.
The community members who decried the porous security arrangement said while the bandits were busy “harvesting” members of their community, they put calls through to all the necessary authorities and individuals all to no avail.
They also said a Police operation vehicle came the following morning long after the kidnappers were gone.
Kaduna Police spokesman Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mohammed Jalige in a press statement however claimed the Police rescued the 5 and 12 are still with the bandit while the Police were on their trail.
The kidnappers are yet to contact any of the families to demand for ransom.
