By Babs Oyetoro
No fewer than 87 persons were abducted yesterday by terrorists in the Tantatu community, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The attack came barely 48 hours after 14 people were abducted similarly in the Dogon Noma community, also in Kajuru LGA.
The gunmen, who were said to be in large numbers, invaded the community at about 10pm on Sunday.
They were said to have broken into some shops and looted foodstuffs.
A member of the Kaduna state House of Assembly representing Kajuru constituency, Usman Stingo, confirmed that 87 people were abducted during the attack.
The gunmen were said to have invaded the community at about 10pm on Sunday, terrorizing residents.
The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, also confirmed the attack but could not confirm the number of people abducted.
He said police personnel had been deployed to the area to track down the criminals.
In the last three weeks, 465 people have been abducted in Kajuru and Chikun LGAs.
*Defence Chief visits Gov Sani, says they’ll soon be rescued
Following an upsurge in the kidnap cases, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, arrived at the state government house yesterday to meet with Governor Uba Sani.
While speaking during the meeting, which also had representatives of the Kuriga community in attendance, General Musa assured that the abducted students and those who were recently kidnapped by bandits at Kajuru would soon be rescued.
According to him, the military and other security agencies are working tirelessly to free the hostages.
He vowed that all those behind the kidnappings and attacks in Kaduna and other states in the North West zone would soon be apprehended.
“We are here to show solidarity to this community so that you would know that whatever you are going through, we are also going through it. We assure you that God Almighty is on our side, and whatever we are going through is temporal.
“And the problem is due to people who don’t want development for this country so that development would occur. We are working tirelessly to make sure that all those kidnapped will be safeguarded and brought out as quickly as possible,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Governor Sani said the state was getting support from the army and police.
“We will beef up security in the Kuriga community. We are getting a lot of support from security agencies, police, and the army,” Governor Sani said during the meeting.
