THISDAY

Bandits Kill 222, Abduct 774 in Kaduna within Three Months

- John Shiklam in Kaduna

A total of 222 people have been killed while 774 others have been kidnapped by bandits in Kaduna State in the past three months.

This was contained in the second quarter security report, presented yesterday to Governor Nasir El-Rufai by the Commission­er for Internal Security and

Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan at the Government House in Kaduna.

Aruwan said the report covered from April 1 to June 30, 2021.

The report showed a slide reduction in the number of deaths and the number of people abducted.

In the first quarter report presented in April, a total of 323 persons were killed while 949 others were kidnapped by bandits across Kaduna State.

Aruwan also disclosed that a total of 8,553 heads of cattle were rustled in the period under review with most stolen from the Kaduna Central senatorial district, which accounted for around 5,715 stolen cattle. Aruwan said the 222 deaths were caused by banditry attacks, communal clashes and reprisals across the state.

According to him, 159 of the deaths were recorded in Kaduna Central senatorial district while Southern Kaduna senatorial district and Northern Senatorial district recorded 54 and nine deaths, respective­ly.

The commission­er said of the 774 people kidnapped, Kaduna Central Senatorial District topped the list with 555 people abducted.

Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru, Giwa and Igabi LGAs, where there were rampant cases of killings and kidnapping­s are in the Kaduna Central senatorial zone.

He said, “Southern Kaduna Senatorial District recorded 164 kidnapped persons, with Kachia LGA reporting the highest number of 111.

“The Northern Senatorial District recorded 55 kidnapped persons, with 37 of these from Zaria LGA.

“In total, 239 women, and 32 minors were kidnapped in the second quarter across the state”.

The commission­er also disclosed that 20 persons were reported to have been raped across the state during the period, adding that a total of 266 were injured as a result of banditry, violent attacks, reprisals and communal clashes.

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