For some time now, Kaduna State has been in the news for the wrong reasons. There have been widespread cases of issues of insecurity, including killings, kidnappings, abductions and all sorts of banditry.

In the last five years, a report noted, more than 1,000 lives have been wasted in the state, especially in Southern Kaduna, fuelled by intermittent raids by bandits and reprisals.

than 1,000 lives have been wasted in the state, especially in Southern Kaduna, fuelled by intermittent raids by bandits and reprisals.

Instances of these kinds of uprisings that have reduced the profile of the state that used to be the epicentre of power in the North, from the time of Sir Ahmadu Bello as the prime minister.

In September 29, 2020, an article in a newspaper sounded the alarm that the spate of kidnapping in Kaduna was beating the Zamfara record. In fact, it was stated that Kaduna was fast becoming the kidnap centre in the country.

The history is long. There are frightening examples of abductions and killings, and other forms of insecurity in the state that should make all of us worry.

For instance, on January 24, 2020, 30 gunmen stormed the compound of one Philip Ataga, a medical official, shot a local guard, and carted the wife and children away.
The wife was killed a week later when the ransom of N150 million demanded by the captors for the wife was not forthcoming. Last year, two police officers were kidnapped in what was termed ‘distinct operations’ in the state.

In April and December 2019, no fewer than 35 persons were reportedly killed in Kaduna by bandits. The same year, some 30 persons were kidnapped in Rigasa part of the state capital by bandits and taken to a nearby forest.

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Meanwhile, it is not yet confirmed whether the 29 of the 39 kidnapped students of the School of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in Igabi local government area (also in southern Kaduna) since March 11, have been freed by their abductors.

As a matter of fact, Kaduna is now said to be running neck-and-neck with Zamfara as a major kidnapping hotspot. In the first quarter of 2020, it was reported that there were more abductions in Kaduna, compared to documented cases in 2019.
The modus operandi the kidnappers leave so much to be desired. They are said to use hacksaws, hammers and other harmful tools for their operations, with no less than 20 to 50 motorcycles and buses to carry their ‘preys’.

What is happening in Kaduna is indeed the worst form of ‘evil killings’, as Governor Nasir el-Rufai noted after the killing of students by bandits at Kaduna State’s first private university, Greenfield, on Tuesday.

The abductors had raided the university, kidnapped and eventually killed three students -Dorathy Tirnom Yohanna, Precious Nwakacha and Sadiq Muazu, an issue that has drawn national outrage and condemnation by President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, it should go beyond condemnations and threats to put a halt to the mindless killings.

Things can’t continue this way. This madness has to stop. The killings have gone on for far too long. Enough should be enough!

We cannot, under any circumstances, surrender our country to bandits, terrorists and marauding killers.

Government must find a way, any way, to deal with this ugly situation.

It must live up to its constitutional and primary responsibility of protecting lives and property of the citizens. That’s why it is called government, to govern the people in peace and prosperity.

With worsening economic atmosphere, the people of Kaduna, indeed all Nigerians, cannot afford to live in perpetual state of fear occasioned by the terrible and terrifying state of insecurity pervading our country.

We in ThisNigeria believe that the issue of violence that leaves people dead should not be reduced to items of statistics. Widows, widowers and orphans are sadly being churned out every now and then. Many have lost uncles, aunties, children, brothers and sisters.

One Nigerian life lost in gruesome and barbaric circumstances is enough to provoke outrage. When hundreds and thousands are lost, it should diminish us all, because of our shared humanity.
It is in the light of the above that we call on the relevant authorities, especially Governor el-Rufai to sit up to confront the security challenge facing the state.

We believe, as governor of the state, he can’t be happy or comfortable with the state of affairs today. He could also have been doing his best to curtail the situation. However, with the general insecurity in Kaduna, it is clear his best has not been good enough. He must find a way, in collaboration with the Federal Government, to break the cycle of insecurity in his state.

It is the primary duty of government to secure the land and defend its people. Enough of the insanity in Kaduna.