Eight people were kidnapped as bandits raided the Dan-Honu II village in New Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
A new couple who married last Saturday were among those kidnapped, as were the Imam of the neighborhood mosque, his wife, and three children, including a 10-month-old baby.
Platinum Times reports that roughly ten bandits assaulted the village around 8:50 p.m. on Tuesday night, armed with AK-47 rifles and other hazardous weapons. They were believed to be dressed in black, with one disguised.
According to him, “A resident of the area who is known as Alhaji Mohammed, escaped the abduction by the whiskers, the bandits started by picking the Imam and his family, whom they met outside the community Juma’at Mosque, before proceeding to a four-flat compound where they picked the new couple.”
He explained that the bandits began knocking on Alhaji Mohammed’s door and breaking the window, forcing the couple out through the shattered window.
Meanwhile, the Imam, Malam Suleiman, and his neighbor, Malam Musa, who were apprehended while relaxing with Arabian tea outside the mosque grounds, escaped while being led out of the town into the wilderness.
Similarly, the new wife, who was believed to have recently undergone surgery, was abandoned in the wilderness by the kidnappers when she couldn’t keep up with the speed of their walking in the bush.
The Imam’s wife was also released after her baby’s cry almost exposed the bandits to vigilantes in Kakura.
The bandits did, however, eventually succeed in kidnapping the new spouse, Ibrahim, as well as two of the imam’s children (15-year-old Abba and his younger brother).
They were yet to make contact with the family as of the time of posting this report.
While recounting his horror at the hands of the bandits, Imam Suleiman stated that two of the seven bandits who grabbed them were armed with AK-47 rifles with bullet chains, while others carried axes, machetes, and sticks.
ASP Mansur Hassan, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna State Police Command, stated that the police are still working to determine the true account of the occurrence.