Tears Flow As Bandits Killed 323 People
On Friday, April 30, Kaduna’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, made the announcement while presenting the State Security Council’s first quarter security report.
Nasiru Ahmad El Rufa’i, the governor of Kaduna, vowed on March 2, 2020 to root out bandits from the state and declined to negotiate with terrorists.
Over 50 people were killed by bandits in Giwa and Igabi Local Government Areas on Sunday night, according to the governor. Locals who lost loved ones in the invasion told him that the invasion killed more than 50 people.
According to Aruwan, 949 people were kidnapped by bandits at the time. In the Kaduna Central senatorial district, 236 people died, including residents of Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Igabi, and Kajuru.
He also told the council that the security forces had had a number of victories, including the killing of hundreds of bandits and the recovery of a large number of weapons.
Governor El-Rufai lamented the recent spate of kidnappings and banditry in Kaduna, which he said had reached alarming proportions, in his remarks at the meeting.
The attacks are getting out of hand, according to the governor, and bandits operating in the state are moving closer to urban areas, where they have been targeting innocent citizens with utmost bravado in recent months.
“Reports in the media have drawn the attention of the Kaduna State Government, led by El-Rufai, that it has appointed members to interface with bandits on its behalf,” Aruwan said in a statement released in Kaduna on Sunday, April 4.
“The State Government hereby clarifies that such middlemen have never been called,” he said.
The Kaduna government’s stance remained unchanged, according to Aruwan, who claimed that the state would not bargain with or pay ransom to robbers, and that “anyone who appears to be doing so in any way” would be prosecuted.
According to Aruwan, citizens are encouraged to report someone posing as an official government negotiator to the Kaduna State Security Operations.
