KADUNA INSECURITY: COMMUNITIES LAMENTS KILLINGS AND ABDUCTIONS
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BY JENN NOMAMIUKOR
Residents of the Akurmi community in the Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State have expressed concern over ongoing killings and kidnappings by bandits.
They revealed that at least 59 people have been held captive since October 2025.
The community stated that at least 12 residents were killed and dozens were abducted during a series of coordinated attacks, forcing many villagers to leave their homes and farmlands.
Similarly, the Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressives Union has warned of renewed security threats and the destruction of farmlands in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, cautioning that the fragile peace in the area could be reversed.
Leaders of the Akurmi community raised the alarm on Tuesday at a press conference in Kaduna, describing the security situation as dire and life-threatening.
Speaking on behalf of the Akurmi Development Association, its President, Yakubu Maigamo, said persistent attacks had pushed the people to the brink and questioned the seeming neglect of the community by authorities.
“Are we still part of Nigeria, or have Akurmi lives become disposable?” Maigamo asked while addressing journalists.
He lamented that ancestral farmlands, which once sustained the people, had been turned into what he described as “graveyards and forests of fear” due to constant bandit attacks.
According to him, gunmen now invade villages at will, killing men and abducting women and children without facing resistance or receiving adequate security response.
Maigamo said the attacks were systematic and widespread, affecting several communities in the Lere Local Government Area and neighboring councils.
He cited an attack in October 2025 on the Karku-Ningi community in the Kauru Local Government Area, where four people were killed and nine others abducted.
The AKURDA president also listed Gidan-Waya, Jan-Tsauni and Mai-Yamma communities in Lere LGA, where another four residents were killed and 13 abducted in November 2025, adding that similar incidents occurred in Majagada, Gurza, Garun-Kurama and Biman-Kurama.
He disclosed that many of those abducted since October were still in captivity, noting that families had been forced to sell harvested grains meant to sustain them through the year to raise ransom payments.
While acknowledging efforts by the Federal and Kaduna State governments to tackle insecurity, Maigamo said the interventions were grossly insufficient and appealed to Governor Uba Sani to order the immediate and permanent deployment of security personnel to the affected communities.
‘Our commitment to peace must not be confused with a readiness to remain silent. Justice cannot be postponed, and security cannot be delayed,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Isah Muhammad, the Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressives Union expressed sorrow over the killing of a former councillor from Gayam Ward, Auwal Magaji Kwaga, along the Birnin Gwari-Kwaga road.
“The murder of Malam Auwal has deeply affected the Birnin Gwari community,” the union said, describing the incident as part of ongoing cases of killings, robberies, and thefts in the area.
The group mentioned that a documentation process showed at least 173 farmers experienced severe damage to their farmland during the 2025 farming season, with over 182 hectares of land destroyed, resulting in losses amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.
When contacted, the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, stated that he would reach out to the affected communities and take appropriate action.
However, as of the time this report was filed, he had not done so yet.
This followed the return of 80 worshippers who had escaped an abduction during a bandit attack on the Kurmin Wali community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
About 177 worshippers were initially believed to have been abducted during the attack with 80 later confirmed to have escaped and sought safety in nearby communities.
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