But Nigerian Soldiers Chased Terrorists out of Town Promptly
By Luka Binniyat
(Kaduna) – At midnight they began beating down the doors of trapped and terrified farm families in Buda, a sleepy hamlet 35 miles southeast of the Kaduna metropolis.
The armed radicalized Fulani terrorists rousted 61 fathers and mothers with their children out of their houses — even a nursing mother with a newborn — to be kidnap booty. For the devout Christians of Kaduna state it was like a recurrent nightmare.
Three weeks ago Islamist terrorists, called by locals armed Fulani militia, kidnapped 17 persons in Gonin Gora, suburb of Kaduna city on February 28 and invaded a school in Kuriga village on March 7, taking away 287 elementary pupils and high-school students. Both communities are close to the Kaduna metropolis.
Speaking exclusively to TruthNigeria on the latest crime of mass abduction in Kaduna state, Hon. Danlami Usman Stingo, Member, representing Chikun Constituency at the Kaduna State House of Assembly (KDHA), said that the invaders stealthily arrived at Buda and surrounded the community of about 120 houses around midnight Monday.
‘They made sure no one escaped.’
“From the details I got after visiting the place, the invaders surrounded the entire town in a circle to make sure no one escaped,” said Stingo.
The Hon. Danlami Usman Stingo, Member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly. Photo by Usman Stingo.
“Without firing a shot, they started going from house to house and breaking down doors and bringing out people to a specific spot,” he said.
“Anyone that makes a bid to escape would run into one of the armed bandits and be captured,” he said.
“But some residents were able to hide and make calls to a military base in Kajuru town which about 5 km away,” he added.
“As they were breaking doors and forcing residents out, the bandits heard the approaching vehicles and motorbikes of the military coming down. That’s when they started shooting,” he said.
“As they were retreating with their hostages they were firing,” he added.
“By the time the troops arrived, they had escaped through the rocky terrain in the dark of the night,” he said.
“They did not operate for more than 25 minutes before the troops arrived,” he told TruthNigeria.
Citizens Praise for the Local Military
He praised the military for what he said was its prompt response this time.
“There is no doubt that the terrorists wanted to kidnap a very large number of people. We thank the military for their timely intervention which saved many more from being kidnapped.
“It has been established that 32 males and 29 females were kidnapped making it a total of 61,” Stingo said.
“No one was shot or hurt, and no house was burned,” he said.
“They just wanted to steal as many people as possible without making a noise,” Stingo said.
Call for Sanctioning and Probing of Defense Chiefs After Fresh Abductions
However, Stingo has called for a public probe of the nation’s security chiefs who have failed the citizens time and again to intercept invading terrorists or to pursue them after they have carried away hapless victims.
“This afternoon on the floor of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, I raised a motion of urgent public attention after observing the poor security situation in the state, especially in my constituency, and I made about six requests [“prayers,”] he said.
“One of them is that the service chiefs should be sanctioned, and a probe carried out as to why they appear inefficient in coordinating against these criminal elements,” he said.
“Something is wrong that we don’t know, so the service chiefs have questions to answer,” he added.
“I also advocated for an inter-agency seminar or workshop wherein all the commanders from the military, police and secret services can get an understanding on how to synergize and get better results against these bandits,” he added.
“I also called on both Kaduna and the Federal Government to take with immediate effect relief materials to all communities hit by banditry in the state. And that government should take care of the hospital bills of the wounded,” he said.
The call for reform of the nation’s security architecture was echoed by Rev. Polycarp Gbaja, on LN247 TV Tuesday. “Nigeria doesn’t have a proactive national security policy,” said Gbaja, who is completing a PhD dissertation on Security Studies. “It hasn’t been there for 63 years. We begin by resolving that no Nigerian will die needlessly. It includes putting in structures to prevent that. A proactive strategy includes dealing with and neutralizing the sources of the attacks before they get to the schools,” Gbaja said.
“We have been just reactionary until now. We have even got to the embarrassing point where governors are seeking people to negotiate with the attackers. How does that even happen in a country? Because there is no national security policy. I think our legislators have been sleeping on the job,” Gbaja said.
Luka Binniyat, an award-winning reporter, is a Kaduna-based conflict specialist for Truth Nigeria.
