Federal Police Fail to Appear in 24 Hours
By Luka Binniyat
[Kaduna] Radicalized bandit gangs based in Birnin Gwari County in Nigeria’s western Kaduna State are testing the resolve of the Nigerian military by renewing their mass kidnapping attacks east of Kaduna City, TruthNigeria has learned. TruthNigeria has interviewed Security sources in Birnin Gwari, the bandit hub of western Kaduna state, and learned that the bandit leader known as Dogo Gide is believed to be the play caller of the kidnapping of 13 women and three boys on Oct. 7. Gide’s criminal network is believed to number more than 1,000 fighters who are systematically conquering large swaths of territory in western Kaduna State and extorting rents from the farm families who stay within his zone of control.
At 10 am, Saturday, 7th October, 2023, the rising sun shone through the hazy weather over Chikuri Community, Chikun County, approximately 23 miles east of the capital of Kaduna City, Kaduna state, as village folks harvested corn on 20 acres of farmland owned by Mr. Alhaji Maikudi.
Chikuri is dominated by the Gbagyi ethnic nationality. The agrarian community, located on a low flat plain, is bounded by high ridges and is predominantly Christian, according to locals who spoke to TruthNigeria
As the farmers went on with their chores, rattling gunshots from the fringes of the 20 hectares Maikudi farm startled the workers who were mostly women and children, said Peter Dogara, (22) a youth leader who spoke to TruthNigeria on phone Sunday.
“They ran in pandemonium in different directions, but many were soon captured by the Fulani gunmen who were in scores and well-armed,” said Dogara citing one of the farmers who escaped.
“From Chikuri we heard the sounds of gunshots from the farm, which is about 3 km from our town,” he said.
“We knew that it was the bandits again, because that will be the third time that they are attacking our community, stealing things and kidnapping people,” he told TruthNigeria in a solemn voice.
“We heard the voices of women and children screaming over the gunshots and I thought that they were killing them,” he added.
Dogara said he and friends organized a handful of village voluntary guards known as ‘vigilantes’ and went for rescue. They found that several farms were empty, and later discovered that 30 persons could not be accounted for.
“They took their hostages on foot, across farm fields, through the valleys and over the hills,” he said.
Mother and daughter among victims.
“Some [locals] escaped into the bushes and when we arrived, they came out. No one was killed or shot by the bandits,” he said.
“My mother, Lydia Dogara, who is 54 years old, and my junior sister, Godiya Dogara, who is 20 years old are among those kidnapped,” he said.
Dogo Gide Believed to be Kidnap Kingpin
Dogo Gide, a notorious bandit, infamous for high-profile kidnappings and murder, is the likely leader of the kidnapping, according to Ishaq Usman Kasai, a security analyst and also Chairman, Birnin Gwari Emirate Development Union.
Gide’s fighters were behind the 23rd August, 2023 shooting down of a Nigeria Air Force Helicopter in Shiroro area of Niger State, about 120 miles north-west of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, killing at least 17 military personnel and crew on board.
Kasai ruled out the al-Qaeda linked Ansaru terror group operating within forests of Birnin Gwari – a mineral rich county 50miles east of Kaduna city in an interview with TruthNigeria.
“I have been studying the criminality of the various groups operating within Birnin Gwari down to Chikun, Niger and Zamfara State, and I can tell you that one of the groups of Dogo Gide should be responsible for that kidnapping,” said Kasai, who holds a master’s degree in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
There are two dominant, organized violent criminal groups operating with this axis,” he said.
“Dogo Gide bandit groups and Ansaru terror affiliate of al-Qaeda,” he went on. https://dailytrust.com/local-miners-go-for-gold-in-kaduna-s-birnin-gwari/
“Dogo Gide runs the Kamuku forest and adjoining forest in Kebbi, down to this area of Kuduru Forest in Chikun County, Kaduna State and Niger State and his other spheres of the forest in Zamfara State.
“He has carved out these forests and allotted them to various of his bandit groups each with commanders under their command who are all answerable to him,” he said. “So, I believe that the Chikuri kidnapping was carried out by one of Dogo Gide’s group,” he said.
Kaduna State Police Command mum.
When ThruthNigeria put a call to ASP Mansir Hassan, Kaduna State Police Command acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) around 1pm Sunday, he said he had not been briefed about the Chikuri crime.
“I will inquire from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Chikun and get back to you,” he said.
Dogara and others complained that the attack was in broad daylight on Saturday morning, yet the military failed to respond to calls for help. Chikori has yet to see the presence of either the army or police since the kidnap took place on Saturday, he told TruthNigeria.
Police rescue 3, dodge comment
When ThruthNigeria called Mansir Hassan, Kaduna State Police Command acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) at 1pm Sunday, he said he had not been briefed about the crime.
“I will inquire from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Chikun and get back to you,” he said.
On the other hand, the police spokesman insisted that TruthNigeria give full coverage to what the police had been doing for the adjoining neighborhood. “But are you aware that we have been rescuing kidnapped victims and apprehending criminal elements which the press is not giving coverage of ?” he queried.
He sent a Press Statement he issued on Saturday which he signed on behalf of Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Musa Yusuf Garba.
Part of the statement reads: “Rescue of Kidnapped Victims.”
“On the 03/10/2023 at about 2200 hours while on routine patrol along Ikara to Sayasaya village, Police Operatives attached to Divisional Headquarters Ikara, Kaduna responded to an unusual suspicious movement from a nearby farm and on approaching the location, three unknown men escaped into the bush leaving in their wake three girls.” The teen-aged girls had been held as hostages since Sept. 24
But up at the time of filing this report Hassan did call and did not return the calls of our reporter for comments on the Chikuri kidnapping.
Women are key targets of kidnappers
Meanwhile, the Women’s Leader, Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) Mrs Jethmun Katarma, also a Gbagyi woman, confirmed the Chikuri kidnapping.
“Anytime they come to Chikuri, they usually prefer to kidnap more women and girls, and they maltreat them before ransom is gathered and sent to the bandits before they release our women,” she said.
“It is not only in Chikuri that they usually prefer to kidnap more women, but also in other parts of Southern Kaduna. But the media don’t usually report it,” she said.
“I am very worried about this because every woman who lives in rural areas of Southern Kaduna where bandits are operating is a target,” Katarma said.
Sex slavery and sex trafficking is a common bandit business in Chikun County, according to community leaders who spoke to TruthNigeria on the condition of anonymity.
Kaduna State Government has officially reported that between January and March 2023, not less than 308 persons were killed and 746 persons kidnapped by terrorist and allied violent criminals.
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Luka Binniyat writes on crime, security and politics for TruthNigeria from Kaduna City.
