THE alleged killing of a 13-year-old girl by bandits around Anguwar Magaji in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State has elicited public outrage, raising questions over the high level of insecurity in the state.
Angry residents took to the Abuja-Kaduna expressway on Saturday to express their anger over the incident which also involved the village head and his family.
It is not certain if the deceased teenager was a relative of the village head, but a report by Daily Trust disclosed that other members of the community were abducted with the family of the traditional ruler.
The aggrieved villagers, however, blocked the highway preventing commuters from accessing the road.
“We cannot go to our farms and yet, they will follow us to our homes to abduct us for ransom. They killed a 13-year-old girl, a security man in the village as well as abducted other residents including the family of the village head,” a resident stated.
Abducting and kidnapping civilians along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway is not a new occurrence. It has become a reccurring situation, just like killings and abduction of students in various parts of the country.
A British woman and a Nigerian man were killed on April 21, 2019 by kidnappers in the state. Three others were abducted during the attack.
In April five abducted students of the Greenfield University, located within the state, were also killed by their abductors. Some were freed after their parents allegedly paid N180 million as ransom.
In the preceding month of March, gunmen also attacked the Federal Government College of Forestry and kidnapped 39 students.
Also, on May 24, protesters blocked the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway over rising cases of kidnapping and banditry.
“My uncle was shot in the back and slaughtered like goat,” one of the survivors in a series of attacks in Southern Kaduna also told the Cable News Network (CNN).
The ICIR reached out to the Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the state Jalige Mohammed to confirm the incident, but he did not reply to the message sent to his phone. His phone was busy when he was called repeatedly.
Calls to the Special Adviser to the Kaduna State Governor on Media and Communication Muyiwa Adekeye failed. Text messages sent to his phone and WhatsApp were not replied.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin