A wave of coordinated kidnappings has continued to plunge communities in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State. The December 21, ambush of a vehicle conveying travellers from Zak village to Sabon Layi community for an Islamic event, that led to the abduction of 28 passengers, exposes inactive and inadequate security responses.
It was some minutes after 11 p.m. on December 25, 2025, when an aggressive knock on the door woke the entire family of the Chief Imam of the Central Mosque in Gajin Bashar, in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau state, Hassan Muhammadu. Male voices behind the door angrily commanded he should come out in Hausa, but he said he would not.
“More than five men forcefully broke the door, grabbed my legs on the bed, flunked me into the front of my door and started beating me and my family. They insisted that I stand up and follow them, but I refused and asked them to kill me in my house. That was when they tied my legs, removed my shirt and left my trousers.
“They started dragging me on the ground as they were going. They would carry me and throw me to a flat land whenever they got to a rocky path,” Muhammadu recalled his experience on a hospital bed.
The 76-year-old said the men in their numbers dragged him on the ground towards the outskirts of the village where their bikes were parked, noting that they had abducted two of his children too.
“When we got somewhere, they started beating me again which made me started vomiting blood and I passed out. When I regained consciousness, I noticed that I was thrown into the bush. Then I heard the voices of my children, and I moved so that they could find me. and they brought me back here,” he said.
A community health personnel tending to kidnap victims in Gajin Bashar, Halilu Mudi, corroborated that when they were informed that the chief Imam was kidnapped, the community security operatives and other officials immediately headed to the outskirts of the town.
“We called the DSS from Bashar, the five soldiers attached to us and our local security personnel immediately entered the bushes. They caught up with the bandits at the place where they parked their bikes, but they immediately started shooting at us. It was at that time that they threw baba (Muhammadu) into the bush and the two children immediately escaped.
“Unfortunately, two DSS personnel were injured during the exchange, and the commandant ordered a retreat. So, they returned to the village around 4: a.m. without knowing that baba and the boys were still in the bush,” Mudi said.
Residents suffer in silence
Muhammadu’s case is not isolated. The ICIR reports that on Sunday night, December 21, a few days before his attack, gunmen ambushed a vehicle conveying travellers from Zak village to Sabon Layi community for an Islamic event. They abducted all 28 passengers, including men, women, and children. Among the victims were two princes and a religious leader who were leading the delegation. The attackers abandoned the vehicle at the outskirts of the community and disappeared with the victims into the bush.
A youth leader in Wase, Sapi’i Sambo, confirmed the incident, stating that the attack occurred around 8 p.m. and that the whereabouts of the abducted travellers remain unknown. Another resident of Bashar town, Ibrahim Musa, also corroborated the incident, noting that the abandoned vehicle belonging to a community leader in Zak was discovered by road users the following morning, triggering panic and a community-led search.
However, on January 8, 2025, Sambo confirmed that “Operatives of DSS called in the night they had rescued the victims.” The Plateau state government held a press briefing on January 10, confirming the development and also presented the released victims.
During a field visit to Bashar, The ICIR gathered that barely a day before Sabon Layi abduction, seven residents of Nyalung community were abducted while working on their farms in broad daylight, underscoring how unsafe even farmlands have become.
Residents said kidnapping, banditry, and cattle rustling have become routine in the surrounding villages, yet security responses remain reactive and inadequate, noting that although the Plateau State Police command confirmed that investigations are ongoing, similar assurances in the past yielded no arrests, rescues, or prosecutions.
Cattle rarer and farmer, Umar Dembo, said around 1 a.m. on December 7 the bandits stormed his house at the outskirts of Nyalung village and abducted his wife, sons and daughter in his absence.
“They first took six of them and later asked two of them to go back home, retaining four with them. When I returned home that same day, they used my son’s phone to call me and demanded a ransom of N100 million. When I tried to tell them that I don’t have such money, they told me that the person who directed them to me said I have a shop, car, and a large herd of cattle but that was not what they saw when they came So, I should pay N50 million. After going back and forth for days, they settled and insisted I must pay N6 million imminently,” Dembo said.
He explained that he looked for N6 million and sent someone from a different community to deliver to them on December 25, even though they had instructed him to deliver it by himself, noting that as of December 28, his family had not been released.
“They were speaking to me in Fulfude and Hausa languages and insisted that I deliver the money by myself, but I refused. Everyone in this community was scared because they might also kidnap the person, but someone from the neighbouring community agreed and he told me that when he went to a bushy path near Shiwaka, a community near Kukawa, the location they instructed him to meet them, more than four bikes zoomed out of the bushes.
“They confirmed the money and asked him to go but he asked them about his victims and they said they will bring them back by themselves. They confirmed receipt of payment when I called them and said they will release my family but you see it’s been five days since I made the payment and my family has not been released,” he added.
The father of eight children said that the security operatives at Bashar called him and promised to rescue his family.
“I gave them the phone number of my son the bandits have been using to communicate but no result to this day,” he explained.
The wife of Dembo’s son who was among the two people the bandits initially asked to go back home, before abducting the remaining four, Hajara Abdullumuni, said when the bandits broke in, they snatched all their phones and tied her husband’s hand to the back using her room curtain.
“Six of them entered my room, while four others entered Dembo wife’s room, and four others entered the two children’s rooms. They commanded us to start following them and asked us where Dembo was. I told them that I was not feeling well. They said they wouldn’t want me to go and collapse on the way, so they asked me and the youngest girl to go back. They took my husband and three others with them.
“I always get scared at night and I am wondering what they may be doing to him. I have not had good sleep since that day and have not spoken to my husband. I pray he comes home safe and healthy,” she said.
Similarly, Umaru Zakiru, said that his brother, Adam Abdulkarim, and three others were kidnapped by the bandits in the afternoon on December 21, while they were on the farm harvesting cassava, the same day 28 people were kidnapped in Sabon Layi.
“They called me on my brother’s phone and demanded for N4.5 million but we told them that we don’t have that amount of money. they gave my brother the phone and he told me that they are beating them severely, begging us to look for the money and pay them,” Abdulkarim said.
He said that his brother’s wife and children have been disturbed, but he cannot raise N4.5 because he is just a farmer and cattle rarer, noting that most of his cattle have been rustled by the bandits.
How I escaped – Victim
On December 29 morning while this reporter was still speaking to other sources, Amisu Aliyu, a victim of the bandits arrived in the village, and everyone gathered around him to hear the story of his escape.
“I had gone for a farming job in one Alhaji’s farm at the outskirts of the village on December 10 and the bandits stormed the ruga at around 11 p.m. that night. They kidnapped two of us, took us to their camp, chained our hands, legs and beat us anytime they liked. They brought Alhaji Dembo’s children and wife weeks later. People from other states were kidnapped and brought to join us daily. They fed us only once a day and once there was poor ransom feedback from our family, they would flog and beat us,” Aliyu told The ICIR.
He explained the bandits mistakenly forgot one of their keys which they quickly hid it and waited for them to sleep before escaping.
“Eight of us including myself, Dembo’s wife, and children, used the key around 10:30 p.m to escape but Dembo’s wife could not make it. I ran all through the night and arrived in Kukawa community early this morning. When I got home, I was told that Dembo’s son came out in another village, but I don’t know about the others,” Aliyu added.
As at the time this reporter was in Nyalung, Dembo’s son had not arrived yet.
Aliyu told this reporter that the 28 victims kidnapped in Sabon Layi were not brought to their camp. The ICIR gathered that the bandits have different factions and camps in the forest.
‘We dont sleep at night’
The Galidima of Nyalung, Hassan Idris, explained that Nyalung and the neighboring villages are the border towns that share boundaries with Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba States.
“We don’t sleep at night in this community, because we don’t have any presence of government security here. No police or the army. We only have a small local vigilante group, who patrol the community every night. But they can only do little,” Idris said.
The ICIR can independently confirm the absence of security operatives in the community, as this reporter did not meet the police officer assigned to the post throughout the days spent the in the community and the outpost was under locks throughout.
The community leader said that more that 200 people have been kidnapped from the community since the attacks started over 6-year ago, noting that some were killed in the kidnappers camp while others died in the camps because of severe beating.
“They have rustled more than 500 cows from this community, sometimes in broad daylight while we watch because they have sophisticated guns. They took more than fifty cows belonging to me recently. We no longer have cows in this village, and we can’t go to the farm because they are camped where our farms are,” he added.
Idris said the bandits operate at will, accusing the government of intentionally not coming to their aid, while providing tight security in neighbouring Kompany community where a lead mining site is located.
“We see two different helicopters going toward the forest every time and we suspect that it is with those aircraft that they bring weapons for those bandits to be king over us. If it’s not the government that is supporting them, why would they not come and blow down the forest so that we can rest and live our lives normal again?,” he asked and explained that “We have a police outpost here, but the police officer attached to us comes twice a week and doesn’t even enter the station. He will survey and return to Bashar. We have taken our complaints to the government and security agencies but to no avail,” he said.
Echoing Idris’ voice, the Chiroma of Nyalung, Bala Mudi Salihu, decried that since the attacks started years ago, 2025 has been tough, because residents did not go to their farms throughout the year.
“Our people have not accessed their farms, because our farms are very close to the forest where they are camped. Even the small farms close to us at the outskirt of the villages are no longer safe as the bandits keep kidnapping people in the farms,” Salihu said.
He called on the government to set the forest ablaze so that they can freely access their farms.
History of attacks
Saidu Dodo recalled how the bandits stormed his house around 8 p.m. in July 2025, and kidnapped two of his sons in his absence, noting that they demanded N50 million for their release.
“My children spent one month and four days in their custody. I paid them N6 million, but they came up with a new demand, asking me to buy two bikes for them. I told them that I didn’t have one. My children eventually escaped weeks later,” Dodo said.
Similarly, a renown yam farmer in the neighboring community, Ambrose Alkhali, said it was the night his wife was in labour that more than thirty bandits stormed his house and asked for the new bike he bought before taking him and two of his children away.
“It happened in June. They said somebody informed them that I am rich. I was in their custody for over two months, and they requested for N20 million, but I offered them N3 million at first. They beat me to stupor asking me to give them full details of all my properties and wealth. When the beating was too much, I offered them N5 million, but they forced me to pay N8 million before we were released,” Alkhali said.
He confirmed to The ICIR that the bandits have different factions and camps, noting that “They were more than thirty that night. When we got to the forest, I realised they have separate camps. It’s just like a village with every clan going out in their numbers to hunt for captives.”
He explained that he found out that his wife and child died during the delivery because of the attack.
A resident of Yuli community, Yahaya Yuli, decried that they can’t go to their farms anymore because of the bandits who have rustled all their cattle.
“On December 5, they came in the afternoon and rustled our cows. They came back in their numbers later that night, rustled more cows and killed two people. They have rustled more than one thousand cows,” he said.
Similarly, Emmaho Yakubu, said he and fifty community members of Tumur community fled to Nyalung in the first week of December because of the incessant attacks and kidnapping of their community members.
“We are farmers who settled in Tumur because of the fertile environment but everyone has fled the community, that’s why I and other families fled here. We cannot go to the farm again. This community has accommodated us, but it is not safe here either,” Yakubu said.
The man lamented that due to the consistent attacks on farmers when they are on their farms, most of them have not gone to the farm for months.
Kidnappings and related banditry have significantly contributed to food insecurity in Nigeria by disrupting the entire agricultural system in key food basket states across the North-West and North-Central regions.
In North-Central Nigeria, Benue, Plateau, Niger, and Nasarawa known for a variety of food crops, have also experienced major disruptions due to communal attacks and farmer-pastoralist conflicts.
LGAs like Wase and all the low-land region in Plateau State produce major food like yam and grains but in places that farmers like Yakubu not been forced to stop going to the farm, Bandits have taken control and impose illegal “farm levies” or “protection taxes” on farmers for permission to plant or harvest their crops. Those who cannot or refuse to pay face violence or kidnapping, making agriculture economically unviable for many.
The ICIR gathered that the former village head of Nyalung, late Sanusi Idi was targeted because he refused to agree to the partnership the bandits offered him to pay tax and allow them to enter Nyalung at will, like they are doing in Kukawa community. This reporter found out that it is the residents of Kukawa that cook and deliver food the kidnapped victims and the bandits eat in the camp due to the partnership they have.
The wife of the late Sanusi, Salamatu Sanusi, recalled how they stormed her house in the night.
“They macheted, and shot him in the stomach when he insisted, he would not follow them. They took me, my daughter and two others with them. They would chain the men, but they don’t tie women. We stayed in their custody for two months,” she said.
The reporter could not access some of the neighbouring communities like Kukawa, Sabon Layi and Kompany because they are high risk security zones. The growing insecurity in these communities represents a grave violation of citizens’ fundamental rights because Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution guarantees the right to life, which is routinely threatened when armed groups abduct civilians without consequence.
Section 34(1)(a) guarantees dignity of the human person, a right stripped when victims, including children are dragged into the bush. Section 41 guarantees freedom of movement, a right no longer safely exercised by travelers on rural roads, while Section 43 guarantees the right to own property, which farmers lose when they are abducted from their own land. But kidnappings escalate with little resistance, residents fear that Wase is being slowly abandoned to armed groups.
Authorities response
The Councillor of Nyalung ward, Rabiu Suleiman Musa confirmed the claims and kidnapping experiences the people shared.
“Indeed people do not sleep in this community at night because of the consistent attacks. Despite several complaints to security operatives, and to the LGA, including a petition that was written to the executive arm no result yet,” Musa said.
He explained that their plea to the government is to destroy the forest completely, noting that the only measure they have put in place is the local security system.
The ICIR contacted the Council LGA chairman, Hamisu Muhammad Anani, for details but all messages and calls were not responded to as of press time.
This reporter called the chairman on January 2 repeatedly, but the calls were not answered. Also, the WhatsApp message left was never replied despite follow up calls.
Similarly, the Senator representing Plateau South Senatorial District, Simon Bako Lalong, was contacted on January 10 via calls and WhatsApp message to understand the security measures and effort he has taken at the senate level to address the worsening security concern in these communities. By press time there was no response from him.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations officer of the Plateau State police command, Alfred Alabo, confirmed the attack in Sabon Layi, saying: “We are on it. Our anti-kidnapping unit officers have gone there, and you know we have a mobile unit around that place.”
On the cow rustling in the communities in Bashar, the PPRO said: “Some cows were recovered, last year. I think there are over 10 cows. There were some that we did in collaboration with Taraba State command, because we have been working together along that borderline,” he said.
Alabo said the command didn’t have any information about the police out post but promised to look into the matter. “I don’t have that information. The command will definitely look into it. I also want to promise you that I will speak with the divisional police officers. Sometimes, some of those outstations are police stations that have been built by communities but have not been officially handed over,” he noted.
This part of The ICIR’s terror series. Read it HERE.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.