No fewer than two people were killed by bandits in Kaduna, while the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Kogi State, Alhaji Wakili Damina, has been abducted by gunmen.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan who disclosed the Kaduna incidents in a statement issued yesterday, also said six people were injured.
According to him, the attacks took place in Mazari, Chikun Local Government Area and Doka village in Kajuru LGA.
Aruwan said the attacks were reported to the state government by security agents.
The commissioner said, “security agencies have reported that armed bandits invaded Mazari, a community close to Buruku in Chikun LGA.
“According to the report, one Mariya Sale was killed in the attack. Three others were injured, identified as Ladidi Abdullahi, Zubaida Balarabe and Hauwa’u Ayuba”.
The statement said, “in another reported incident, armed bandits attacked Doka village, Kajuru LGA.
“One Bitrus Luka was shot dead, and three others were injured. The injured are: Kings Andy, Danladi Audu and Titus Friday.
Aruwan said, “Governor Nasir El-Rufai noted the reports with sadness and prayed for the repose of the souls of the slain victims while offering his heartfelt condolences to their families. He also wished the injured a quick recovery.”
The commissioner, in another statement, disclosed that “the Nigerian Air Force, in response to credible intelligence, neutralized a group of bandits congregating in a location to carry out attacks in Birnin Gwari LGA on Monday 3rd May 2021.”
In a separate incident, the Chairman of the MACBAN in Kogi State, Alhaji Wakili Damina, has been abducted.
The state Secretary of MACBAN, Mr. Adamu Abubakar, told journalists yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital that Damina was abducted on April 30 by some armed men dressed in army camouflage.
He said witnesses said that the abductors, numbering about eight, came in a white bus at about 12 noon to “forcefully” take away the Chairman from his house at Chikara village, Kogi Local Government Area.
Abubakar said he was informed of the incident about an hour later by the younger brother of Damina who claimed he witnessed the incident.
The MACBAN secretary said he immediately called the phone number of the missing chairman, but it rang out.
He said that Damina’s number was switched off when he repeated the call about an hour later. “Since then, his lines are not reachable and all efforts to know his whereabouts proved abortive,” he said.
Abubakar said that he immediately notified the state Commissioner for Police of the development, adding that the state government was also informed through the Special Adviser on security matters to the governor, Mr. Jerry Omodara.
The secretary said that he and some members of the association visited the Nigeria Police Force headquarters, Abuja, to know if Damina was in their custody but he was not in police custody.
He also said that a search party raised by MACBAN had visited other places, including abattoirs in and around Abuja to no avail.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ede Ayuba, said that immediately he was informed of the incident, he called Damina’s phone severally but there was no response.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Ayuba said efforts to get detailed information about the incident from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area where the incident happened was unsuccessful as the matter was not officially reported to him.