’13 abducted’ as gunmen raid Kaduna communities

Gunmen attacked two communities in Kaduna state between Saturday and Monday, abducting 13 people.

The communities – Begiwa-Kaso and Dutse – are located along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

A community leader in Begiwa-Kaso said that the gunmen attacked his village around 11pm.

He said they came in “large numbers” and shot sporadically which made villagers run to safety.

“They came at about 10:00pm on Saturday and started shooting. People started running for safety,” he said.

“They abducted seven people while some others were injured.”

In Duste, the gunmen were said to have struck in the early hours of Monday.

A witness said the attack lasted for about 10 minutes after which the gunmen abducted six people.

Yakubu Sabo, spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, did not respond to calls and a text message.

Several communities along the Kaduna-Abuja road are being raided by kidnappers on a daily basis, according to the witness.

While calling on the government to address the problem of insecurity, he said many people have abandoned their farms and relocated to other places out of fear of being abducted.