New couple, an Imam, his wife, and their children were abducted by bandits in Kaduna

Eight people were taken hostage by bandits on Tuesday night when they stormed the Dan-Honu II village in New Millennium City, Chikun local government area, Kaduna State.

A recent marriage, the wife and three children of the village mosque’s imam, including a 10-month-old infant, were among those kidnapped.

About ten robbers, some of whom were masked, broke into the village about 8:50 p.m. carrying AK-47 rifles and other lethal weaponry. They were all described as being dressed in black.

Mohammed, a community member who managed to escape being taken by the whiskers, informed our correspondent that the bandits first selected the Imam and his family, whom they met outside the neighbourhood Juma’at Mosque, before moving on to a compound consisting of four apartments, where they selected the new couple.

“I was inside my own flat when the bandits stormed our compound,” Mohammed claims. I initially believed they were security personnel coming to detain my neighbour when they began hammering the door of the newlyweds since they had gone straight to their flat.

“They began beating on his door and yelling, ‘Dan Iska ba za ka fito ba?’ which translates to, ‘Stupid, won’t you go outside?’ I understood then that they were abductors. They broke his window and the burglary proof after they were unable to get the door open.

The robbers attempted to open the door after entering the flat, but they were unable to accomplish it. They thus extracted the pair via the shattered window. The spouse was hurt, and blood was flowing from his wounds.

They then attempted to break into my own flat as well. Although they had smashed the glass window, one of the neighbourhood vigilantes fired a shot into the air while they were occupied breaking through the burglary proof to get into my flat. The bandits then got uneasy after hearing that gunshot and fled our compound, Mohammed said.

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As they were being led out of the community and into the bush, the Imam, Malam Suleiman, and his neighbour, Malam Musa, who had been picked while they were lounging outside the mosque grounds with Arabian tea, managed to flee.

Comparably, the kidnappers abandoned the newlywed in the bush after she was unable to keep up with their rapid rate of hiking, despite the bride having recently undergone surgery. However, Imam’s wife was also released after the sound of her infant’s scream nearly alerted vigilantes in the Kakura area to the robbers.

After some time, the bandits managed to abscond with the new groom, identified as Ibrahim, along with two of the Imam’s children, 15-year-old Abba and his younger brother. As of the time this report was filed, they had not made contact with the family.

Speaking about his experience being held captive by the bandits, Imam Suleiman claimed that two of the seven abductors had AK-47 rifles fitted with bulletproof chains, while the other three had axes, machetes, and clubs.

“They beat our 10-month-old baby because he was crying,” he claimed. They even made death threats against him, claiming that his cries were upsetting them. However, I’m grateful to God that my wife and the infant managed to flee after I did, but the bandits took my two elder boys with them.

It was discovered that minutes after the bandits had led the hostages into the jungle, officers and troops from the Millennium Strike Force and Police Division arrived on the area.

At the time the report was filed, ASP Mansir Hassan, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna State Police Command, could not be reached for comment.