Some bandits have raided the Dan-Honu community in the Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and kidnapped a new-wedded couple, Muslim leader and scores of others on Tuesday.
It was gathered that the hoodlums decked in dark dresses and wielding AK47 rifles in large numbers stormed the area around 9pm.
A source who is also a resident of the area told our correspondent that the bandits took away no fewer than eight residents of the community including the couple, the Imam and others.
However, the source added that the Imam and one other escaped while they were being led out of the community into the bush.
He said, “The bandits suspected to be kidnappers came on Tuesday night, attacked Dan-Honu II community in New Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and kidnappied eight persons.
“Among those abducted were a new couple who got married last Saturday, Imam of the community mosque, his wife and three children, including a 10-month-old baby.
“The bandits who stormed the community around 8:50pm numbering about 10, with AK47 rifles and other weapons, were in black, with one of them masked.
“We escaped being abducted. The bandits started by picking the Imam and his family who they met outside the community Juma’at Mosque before proceeding to other houses where they abducted the newly wedded.
“I was inside my apartment when the bandits stormed our compound. At first, when they started banging the new couple’s door, because they went to their apartment straight, I thought they were security people who came to arrest my neighbour.”
He added, “They started banging his door and shouting ‘Dan Iska ba za ka fito ba?’, meaning ‘idiot, will you not come out? That was when I realiaed that they were kidnappers. So, when they could not force the door open, they broke his window and broke the burglary proof.
“On gaining entrance into the apartment, the bandits tried to open the door, they could not open it. So, they brought the couple out through the broken window. They injured the husband and blood was dripping from his body.
“They attempted to enter my apartment too. They broke the glass window, but as they were busy hitting the burglary proof to break into my apartment, one of the vigilantes in the community fired a shot into the air. On hearing the gunshot, the bandits became uncomfortable and left our compound.
“The new bride was also abandoned in the bush by the bandits when she could not cope with the pace of the movement. The Imam’s wife was freed when her baby’s cry almost exposed the bandits to vigilantes around Kakura area.
“The bandits were able to go with the new groom and two children of the Imam. They were yet to establish contact with the family.”
Meanwhile, the Imam, who escaped from the bandits, while narrating his ordeal, told newsmen that two out of the seven bandits that attacked the community were armed with AK47 rifles with chains of bullets.
“They beat the 10-month-old baby because he was crying. They even threatened to kill him because his cry was disturbing them. But I thank Almighty Allah my wife and the baby later escaped after I had escaped but the bandits went away with my two sons,” he said.
While confirming the incident, the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, told our correspondent on the telephone that operatives of the command repelled the bandits and rescued the victims.
“What we know was that as they entered, police repelled the attackers and rescued those that were kidnapped,” he said.
punch