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• Whereabouts of student abductees unknown, kidnappers demand N20m ransom
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Sokoto
The people of Kurya, Gada and Turba villages and most parts of the northern district of Sokoto State have lost their right to sleep to bandits. Though they yearn for a resounding sleep like others, they cannot afford to risk it.
• Proprietor of the Tsangaya School whose people were abducted
Recent tragic events in their domains have snapped away their sleep. They are sad. They are aggrieved and they are desperate. At different times in the immediate past, they have played hosts to bandits. On each occasion, these unwanted visitors have left them with wounds to lick.
On December 26, 2023, 12 villagers, including a woman, two children, her daughter-in- law were abducted in Kurya village in Rabbah Local Government. The gang also rustled an unspecified number of livestock and left the community poorer and bitter.
The bandits invaded the village with sophisticated weapons, firing sporadically in the open as they routed their way to disrupt the peace of the village and seize their joy. It was, however, gathered that the Joint Task Force, North West Operations, responded in good time to distress calls from the community. They countered the invaders and neutralised some of them.
About the same time and while efforts were being made to rescue the rest of the abducted villagers, a gang of bandits stormed Gidan Bakuso in Gada LG, shot one, abducted a woman and 15 students of a Tsangaya school. This happened barely days after a similar exploit in Kaduna State left the country in distress and dismay.
The proprietor of the Tsangaya school, Liman Abubakar, said: “The bandits invaded the town around 1.00 am, shot at a person and abducted a woman. But as they were leaving town, they sighted our students as they rushed into their classrooms, stopped and kidnapped many of them.”
He disclosed that this was not the first time the village was coming under siege of bandits: “They called me (this morning around 11am) and directed me to meet our village head and tell him to raise N20 million for the children. I went and discussed the matter with the village head but we are yet to reach a conclusion.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmad Rufa’i, confirmed the incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday: “The bandits took advantage of the remote location of the village to perpetrate their act. Lack of access roads to villages in remote parts of the state is a major obstacle to security personnel.”
He said the command’s tactical team operatives had been deployed to rescue the kidnapped persons. He appealed to the public to assist them with any useful information that could assist the on going rescue efforts:
“We are still searching the surrounding villages and forest to get the exact location of where the children were being held. We are on it and hopefully we will get them rescued.”
Lawmaker representing Isa Constituency, state House of Assembly, Habibu Modachi, believed the attack was a reprisal given that security operatives had raided suspected bandits’ hideouts a few days earlier.
Member representing Gada East Constituency, Kabiru Dauda, said he received the news around 2.00 am that the village was being invaded by gunmen: “I reached out to the local government authorities and security agencies. I am sure they are doing something about it.”
Meanwhile, parents of the abducted were worried by the unfolding development. One of them who pleaded not to be named said: “All the parents of the children are gravely worried over the development. They plead with the state government to spare no effort in ensuring that the children return unharmed and unhurt.”
